Sonnet XXVIII
How can I then return in happy plight,That am debarr’d the benefit of rest?When day’s oppression is not eas’d by night,But day by night and night by day oppress’d,And each, though enemies to either’s reign,Do in consent shake hands to torture me,The one by toil, the other to complainHow far I toil, still farther off from thee.I tell the day, to please him thou art bright,And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven:So flatter I the swart-complexion’d night,When sparkling stars twire not thou gild’st the even.But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer,And night doth nightly make grief’s length seem stronger.
Words in this poem
- plight v. t.
- To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait. [OE. pliten; probably through Old French, fr. LL. plectare, L. plectere. See Plait, Ply.]
- complexion n.
- The state of being complex; complexity. [F. complexion, fr. L. complexio. See Complex, a.]
- twire n.
- A twisted filament; a thread. [Cf. D. tweern, G. zwirn, and E. twine.]
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XXVIII 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 XXVIII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-28.html, id L00046.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXVIII 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 92%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 7% 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 plightA · restB · nightA · oppress'dB · reignC · meD · complainC · theeD · brightE · heavenF · nightE · evenF · longerG · strongerG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How can I then return in happy plight, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| That am debarr’d the benefit of rest? | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| When day’s oppression is not eas’d by night, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| But day by night and night by day oppress’d, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And each, though enemies to either’s reign, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Do in consent shake hands to torture me, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| The one by toil, the other to complain | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| How far I toil, still farther off from thee. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I tell the day, to please him thou art bright, | 10 | ·········· |
| And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven: | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| So flatter I the swart-complexion’d night, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| When sparkling stars twire not thou gild’st the even. | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And night doth nightly make grief’s length seem stronger. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
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.