Sonnet XXXVI
Let me confess that we two must be twain,Although our undivided loves are one:So shall those blots that do with me remain,Without thy help, by me be borne alone.In our two loves there is but one respect,Though in our lives a separable spite,Which though it alter not love’s sole effect,Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love’s delight.I may not evermore acknowledge thee,Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame,Nor thou with public kindness honour me,Unless thou take that honour from thy name:But do not so, I love thee in such sort,As thou being mine, mine is thy good report.
Words in this poem
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XXXVI 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 XXXVI, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-36.html, id L00054.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXXVI 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 91%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables.
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 twainA · oneB · remainA · aloneB · respectC · spiteD · effectC · delightD · theeE · shameF · meE · nameF · sortG · reportG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Let me confess that we two must be twain, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Although our undivided loves are one: | 10 | ··/·˘/˘··· |
| So shall those blots that do with me remain, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Without thy help, by me be borne alone. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| In our two loves there is but one respect, | 10 | ·/······˘/ |
| Though in our lives a separable spite, | 10 | ··/··/˘˘˘· |
| Which though it alter not love’s sole effect, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love’s delight. | 10 | ·····/··˘/ |
| I may not evermore acknowledge thee, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame, | 10 | ····˘····· |
| Nor thou with public kindness honour me, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Unless thou take that honour from thy name: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But do not so, I love thee in such sort, | 10 | ·········· |
| As thou being mine, mine is thy good report. | 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.