Sonnet LXXII
O! lest the world should task you to reciteWhat merit lived in me, that you should loveAfter my death, dear love, forget me quite,For you in me can nothing worthy prove;Unless you would devise some virtuous lie,To do more for me than mine own desert,And hang more praise upon deceased IThan niggard truth would willingly impart:O! lest your true love may seem false in thisThat you for love speak well of me untrue,My name be buried where my body is,And live no more to shame nor me nor you.For I am shamed by that which I bring forth,And so should you, to love things nothing worth.
Words in this poem
- virtuous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: -- (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See Virtue, and cf. Virtuoso.]
- willingly adv.
- In a willing manner; with free will; without reluctance; cheerfully.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet LXXII 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 LXXII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-72.html, id L00090.
Form and metre
Sonnet LXXII 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 87%). 99% 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. 29% 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 reciteA · loveB · quiteA · proveB · lieC · desertD · iC · impartD · thisE · untrueF · isE · youF · forthG · worthG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O! lest the world should task you to recite | 10 | ········˘/ |
| What merit lived in me, that you should love | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| After my death, dear love, forget me quite, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| For you in me can nothing worthy prove; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Unless you would devise some virtuous lie, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| To do more for me than mine own desert, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And hang more praise upon deceased I | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Than niggard truth would willingly impart: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| O! lest your true love may seem false in this | 10 | ·········· |
| That you for love speak well of me untrue, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| My name be buried where my body is, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And live no more to shame nor me nor you. | 10 | ·········· |
| For I am shamed by that which I bring forth, | 10 | ·········· |
| And so should you, to love things nothing worth. | 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.