Sonnet LX
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,So do our minutes hasten to their end;Each changing place with that which goes before,In sequent toil all forwards do contend.Nativity, once in the main of light,Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown’d,Crooked eclipses ’gainst his glory fight,And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.Time doth transfix the flourish set on youthAnd delves the parallels in beauty’s brow,Feeds on the rarities of nature’s truth,And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand.Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.
Words in this poem
- pebbled a.
- Abounding in pebbles. Thomson.
- sequent a.
- Following; succeeding; in continuance. [L. sequens, -entis, p. pr. of sequi to follow. See Sue to follow.]
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- transfix v. t.
- To pierce through, as with a pointed weapon; to impale; as, to transfix one with a dart. [L. transfixus, p. p. of transfigure to transfix; trans across, through + figere to fix, fasten. See Fix.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet LX 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 LX, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-60.html, id L00078.
Form and metre
Sonnet LX 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%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 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 shoreA · endB · beforeA · contendB · lightC · crown'dD · fightC · confoundD · youthE · browF · truthE · mowF · standG · handG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| So do our minutes hasten to their end; | 10 | ··//˘/˘··· |
| Each changing place with that which goes before, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In sequent toil all forwards do contend. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Nativity, once in the main of light, | 10 | ˘/˘˘······ |
| Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown’d, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘˘//· |
| Crooked eclipses ’gainst his glory fight, | 10 | /˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| And Time that gave doth now his gift confound. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| And delves the parallels in beauty’s brow, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Feeds on the rarities of nature’s truth, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand. | 10 | ·········· |
| Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand. | 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.