Sonnet XXXIII
Full many a glorious morning have I seenFlatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye,Kissing with golden face the meadows green,Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy;Anon permit the basest clouds to rideWith ugly rack on his celestial face,And from the forlorn world his visage hide,Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace:Even so my sun one early morn did shine,With all triumphant splendour on my brow;But out! alack! he was but one hour mine,The region cloud hath mask’d him from me now.Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;Suns of the world may stain when heaven’s sun staineth.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- visage n.
- The face, countenance, or look of a person or an animal; -- chiefly applied to the human face. [F. visage, from L. visus a seeing, a look, fr. videre, visum, to see. See Vision.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- alack interj.
- An exclamation expressive of sorrow. [Prob. from ah! lack! OE. lak loss, failure, misfortune. See Lack.]
- whit n.
- The smallest part or particle imaginable; a bit; a jot; an iota; -- generally used in an adverbial phrase in a negative sentence. [OE. wight, wiht, AS. wiht a creature, a thing. See Wight, and cf. Aught, Naught.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XXXIII 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 XXXIII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-33.html, id L00051.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXXIII 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 84%). 78% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 3 lines end 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 seenA · eyeB · greenA · alchemyB · rideC · faceD · hideC · disgraceD · shineE · browF · mineE · nowF · disdainethG · stainethG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Full many a glorious morning have I seen | 10 | ·/·/˘/˘··· |
| Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Kissing with golden face the meadows green, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/·· |
| Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy; | 11 | /˘···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Anon permit the basest clouds to ride | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| With ugly rack on his celestial face, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| And from the forlorn world his visage hide, | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace: | 10 | /˘˘/····˘/ |
| Even so my sun one early morn did shine, | 10 | /····/˘··· |
| With all triumphant splendour on my brow; | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| But out! alack! he was but one hour mine, | 10 | ··˘/····/· |
| The region cloud hath mask’d him from me now. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth; | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Suns of the world may stain when heaven’s sun staineth. | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
On this poem
Notes from the edition 7
Notes by William J. Rolfe, Shakespeare's Sonnets (New York, 1905), Internet Archive scan
- Line 2 Flatter. "As a sovereign flatters a courtier with a look" (Wyndham). Cf. Sonn. 25. 4 fol.
- Line 4 Heavenly alchemy. Cf. K.John, iii. I. 77: — " To solemnize this day the glorious sun Stays in his course and plays the alchemist, Turning with splendour of his precious eye The meagre cloddy earth to glittering gold." See also M. N. D. iii. 2. 391-393.
- Line 6 Rack. A mass of floating clouds. Cf. Temp. iv. I. 156, A, and C. iv. 14. 10, etc. Dyce quotes Bacon, Sylva Sylvarurn, 115 : " The winds in the upper region, which move the clouds above (which we call the rack)." On the passage, Capell compares I Hen. IV. i. 2. 221 fol.
- Line 7 Forlorn. Accented on the first syllable because followed by a noun so accented. Cf. T. G. of V. i. 2. 124: " Poor forlorn Pro- teus, passionate Proteus." For the other accent, see R. of L. 1500 and L. L. L. v. 2. 805. See also on 107. 4 below.
- Line 9 Even so my sun, etc. A Mr. G. T. Smith, of Tasmania {Victorian Rev. Dec. 1879), says: "The secret of the Sonnets [the first 126J is simple. They were addressed to Shakespeare's son ; not a son by Anne Hathaway, but to an illegitimate one by some other woman. — The evidence would go to show by some woman of high rank. . . . Sonnet 33 is conclusive, even if we did not know Shakespeare's love of the pun or play on a word : ' Even so my sun,' etc." This strikes me as "simple " in another sense.
- Line 12 The region cloud. S. uses region several times as = air or airy. Cf. Ham. ii. 2. 509 : — " the dreadful thunder Doth rend the region;" and again in 607 : " the region kites."
- Line 14 Stain. Grow dim, as if stained or soiled. Cf. L. L. L. ii. I. 48 : " If virtue's gloss will stain with any soil," etc. Cf. the tran- sitive use in 35. 3 below. See also the noun in V. and A. 9 : " Stain to all nymphs" (that is, by eclipsing them), etc.
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