Sonnet LXXXVIII
When thou shalt be dispos’d to set me light,And place my merit in the eye of scorn,Upon thy side, against myself I’ll fight,And prove thee virtuous, though thou art forsworn.With mine own weakness, being best acquainted,Upon thy part I can set down a storyOf faults conceal’d, wherein I am attainted;That thou in losing me shalt win much glory:And I by this will be a gainer too;For bending all my loving thoughts on thee,The injuries that to myself I do,Doing thee vantage, double-vantage me.Such is my love, to thee I so belong,That for thy right, myself will bear all wrong.
Words in this poem
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- 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.]
- vantage v. t.
- To profit; to aid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet LXXXVIII 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 LXXXVIII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-88.html, id L00106.
Form and metre
Sonnet LXXXVIII 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%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 3 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 lightA · scornB · fightA · forswornB · acquaintedC · storyD · attaintedC · gloryD · tooE · theeF · doE · meF · belongG · wrongG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When thou shalt be dispos’d to set me light, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| And place my merit in the eye of scorn, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Upon thy side, against myself I’ll fight, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| And prove thee virtuous, though thou art forsworn. | 10 | ···/˘····/ |
| With mine own weakness, being best acquainted, | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Upon thy part I can set down a story | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Of faults conceal’d, wherein I am attainted; | 11 | ··˘/······· |
| That thou in losing me shalt win much glory: | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| And I by this will be a gainer too; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For bending all my loving thoughts on thee, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The injuries that to myself I do, | 10 | ·/˘˘···/·· |
| Doing thee vantage, double-vantage me. | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Such is my love, to thee I so belong, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| That for thy right, myself will bear all wrong. | 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.