Sonnet LXXIII
That time of year thou mayst in me beholdWhen yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hangUpon those boughs which shake against the cold,Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.In me thou see’st the twilight of such dayAs after sunset fadeth in the west;Which by and by black night doth take away,Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire,That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,As the death-bed, whereon it must expire,Consum’d with that which it was nourish’d by.This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.
Words in this poem
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet LXXIII 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 LXXIII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-73.html, id L00091.
Form and metre
Sonnet LXXIII 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 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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 beholdA · hangB · coldA · sangB · dayC · westD · awayC · restD · fireE · lieF · expireE · byF · strongG · longG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| That time of year thou mayst in me behold | 10 | ········˘/ |
| When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, | 10 | ·········· |
| Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In me thou see’st the twilight of such day | 10 | ·····/···· |
| As after sunset fadeth in the west; | 10 | ···/······ |
| Which by and by black night doth take away, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As the death-bed, whereon it must expire, | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| Consum’d with that which it was nourish’d by. | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong, | 10 | ·········· |
| To love that well, which thou must leave ere long. | 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.