Sonnet LXVI
Tired with all these, for restful death I cry:As to behold desert a beggar born,And needy nothing trimm’d in jollity,And purest faith unhappily forsworn,And gilded honour shamefully misplac’d,And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,And right perfection wrongfully disgrac’d,And strength by limping sway disabledAnd art made tongue-tied by authority,And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill,And simple truth miscall’d simplicity,And captive good attending captain ill:Tir’d with all these, from these would I be gone,Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.
Words in this poem
- restful a.
- Being at rest; quiet.
- 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 LXVI 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 LXVI, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-66.html, id L00084.
Form and metre
Sonnet LXVI 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 88%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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 cryA · bornB · jollityA · forswornB · misplac'dC · strumpetedD · disgrac'dC · disabledD · authorityE · skillF · simplicityE · illF · goneG · aloneG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tired with all these, for restful death I cry: | 10 | /····/˘··· |
| As to behold desert a beggar born, | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/˘· |
| And needy nothing trimm’d in jollity, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| And purest faith unhappily forsworn, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘·/ |
| And gilded honour shamefully misplac’d, | 11 | ·/˘/˘····˘/ |
| And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And right perfection wrongfully disgrac’d, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| And strength by limping sway disabled | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| And art made tongue-tied by authority, | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And simple truth miscall’d simplicity, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| And captive good attending captain ill: | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| Tir’d with all these, from these would I be gone, | 10 | /········· |
| Save that, to die, I leave my love alone. | 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.