Sonnet LXXIV
But be contented: when that fell arrestWithout all bail shall carry me away,My life hath in this line some interest,Which for memorial still with thee shall stay.When thou reviewest this, thou dost reviewThe very part was consecrate to thee:The earth can have but earth, which is his due;My spirit is thine, the better part of me:So then thou hast but lost the dregs of life,The prey of worms, my body being dead;The coward conquest of a wretch’s knife,Too base of thee to be remembered.The worth of that is that which it contains,And that is this, and this with thee remains.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet LXXIV 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 LXXIV, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-74.html, id L00092.
Form and metre
Sonnet LXXIV 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 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 2 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 arrestA · awayB · interestA · stayB · reviewC · theeD · dueC · meD · lifeE · deadF · knifeE · rememberedF · containsG · remainsG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| But be contented: when that fell arrest | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Without all bail shall carry me away, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| My life hath in this line some interest, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Which for memorial still with thee shall stay. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| When thou reviewest this, thou dost review | 10 | ···/˘····/ |
| The very part was consecrate to thee: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The earth can have but earth, which is his due; | 10 | ·········· |
| My spirit is thine, the better part of me: | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| So then thou hast but lost the dregs of life, | 10 | ·········· |
| The prey of worms, my body being dead; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The coward conquest of a wretch’s knife, | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Too base of thee to be remembered. | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| The worth of that is that which it contains, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And that is this, and this with thee remains. | 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.