Sonnet LXII
Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eyeAnd all my soul, and all my every part;And for this sin there is no remedy,It is so grounded inward in my heart.Methinks no face so gracious is as mine,No shape so true, no truth of such account;And for myself mine own worth do define,As I all other in all worths surmount.But when my glass shows me myself indeedBeated and chopp’d with tanned antiquity,Mine own self-love quite contrary I read;Self so self-loving were iniquity.’Tis thee, myself, that for myself I praise,Painting my age with beauty of thy days.
Words in this poem
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet LXII 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 LXII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-62.html, id L00080.
Form and metre
Sonnet LXII 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 83%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 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 eyeA · partB · remedyA · heartB · mineC · accountD · defineC · surmountD · indeedE · antiquityF · readE · iniquityF · praiseG · daysG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eye | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And all my soul, and all my every part; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And for this sin there is no remedy, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| It is so grounded inward in my heart. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Methinks no face so gracious is as mine, | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| No shape so true, no truth of such account; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And for myself mine own worth do define, | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| As I all other in all worths surmount. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| But when my glass shows me myself indeed | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| Beated and chopp’d with tanned antiquity, | 10 | /˘····˘/˘˘ |
| Mine own self-love quite contrary I read; | 10 | ·····˘/˘·· |
| Self so self-loving were iniquity. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| ’Tis thee, myself, that for myself I praise, | 10 | ···/···/·· |
| Painting my age with beauty of thy days. | 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.