Sonnet IV
Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spendUpon thyself thy beauty’s legacy?Nature’s bequest gives nothing, but doth lend,And being frank she lends to those are free:Then, beauteous niggard, why dost thou abuseThe bounteous largess given thee to give?Profitless usurer, why dost thou useSo great a sum of sums, yet canst not live?For having traffic with thyself alone,Thou of thyself thy sweet self dost deceive:Then how when nature calls thee to be gone,What acceptable audit canst thou leave?Thy unused beauty must be tombed with thee,Which, used, lives th’ executor to be.
Words in this poem
- unthrifty a.
- Not thrifty; profuse.
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- bounteous a.
- Liberal in charity; disposed to give freely; generously liberal; munificent; beneficent; free in bestowing gifts; as, bounteous production. [OE. bountevous, fr. bounte bounty.]
- largess n.
- Liberality; generosity; bounty. [F. largesse, fr. large. See Large, a.]
- profitless a.
- Without profit; unprofitable.
- usurer n.
- One who lends money and takes interest for it; a money lender. [F. usurier, LL. usurarius. See Usury, and cf. Usurarious.]
- audit n.
- An audience; a hearing. [L. auditus a hearing, fr. audire. See Audible, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet IV 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 IV, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-4.html, id L00022.
Form and metre
Sonnet IV 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 82%). 78% 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. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end. Rhymes that have moved apart since the poem was written: forth / worth, are / care, argument / spent, tongue / wrong, come / doom.
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 spendA · legacyB · lendA · freeB · abuseC · giveD · useC · liveD · aloneE · deceiveF · goneE · leaveF · theeG · beG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend | 10 | ˘/˘/˘˘···· |
| Upon thyself thy beauty’s legacy? | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Nature’s bequest gives nothing, but doth lend, | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··· |
| And being frank she lends to those are free: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Then, beauteous niggard, why dost thou abuse | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘···˘/ |
| The bounteous largess given thee to give? | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘/··· |
| Profitless usurer, why dost thou use | 10 | /˘˘/˘˘···· |
| So great a sum of sums, yet canst not live? | 10 | ·········· |
| For having traffic with thyself alone, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Thou of thyself thy sweet self dost deceive: | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Then how when nature calls thee to be gone, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| What acceptable audit canst thou leave? | 10 | ·˘/˘˘/˘··· |
| Thy unused beauty must be tombed with thee, | 10 | ·˘//˘····· |
| Which, used, lives th’ executor to be. | 9 | ···˘/˘˘·· |
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.