Sonnet XXIII
As an unperfect actor on the stage,Who with his fear is put beside his part,Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,Whose strength’s abundance weakens his own heart;So I, for fear of trust, forget to sayThe perfect ceremony of love’s rite,And in mine own love’s strength seem to decay,O’ercharg’d with burthen of mine own love’s might.O! let my looks be then the eloquenceAnd dumb presagers of my speaking breast,Who plead for love, and look for recompense,More than that tongue that more hath more express’d.O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:To hear with eyes belongs to love’s fine wit.
Words in this poem
- unperfect v. t.
- To mar or destroy the perfection of. Sir P. Sidney. [1st pref. un- + perfect.]
- replete a.
- Filled again; completely filled; full; charged; abounding. [L. repletus, p. p. of replere to fill again, fill up; pref. re- re- + plere to fill, akin to plenus full: cf. F. replet corpulent. See Plenty, Replenish.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XXIII is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shakespeare's Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #1041; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Shakespeare, Sonnet XXIII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-23.html, id L00041.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXIII is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCDEFEFGG stageA · partB · rageA · heartB · sayC · riteD · decayC · mightD · eloquenceE · breastF · recompenseE · express'dF · writG · witG
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| As an unperfect actor on the stage, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Who with his fear is put beside his part, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Whose strength’s abundance weakens his own heart; | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| So I, for fear of trust, forget to say | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| The perfect ceremony of love’s rite, | 10 | ·/·/˘·˘··· |
| And in mine own love’s strength seem to decay, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| O’ercharg’d with burthen of mine own love’s might. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| O! let my looks be then the eloquence | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| And dumb presagers of my speaking breast, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Who plead for love, and look for recompense, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| More than that tongue that more hath more express’d. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| O! learn to read what silent love hath writ: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To hear with eyes belongs to love’s fine wit. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.