Sonnet XC
Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now;Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross,Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,And do not drop in for an after-loss:Ah! do not, when my heart hath ’scap’d this sorrow,Come in the rearward of a conquer’d woe;Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,To linger out a purpos’d overthrow.If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,When other petty griefs have done their spite,But in the onset come: so shall I tasteAt first the very worst of fortune’s might;And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,Compar’d with loss of thee, will not seem so.
Words in this poem
- rearward n.
- The last troop; the rear of an army; a rear guard. Also used figuratively. [Rear + ward.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XC 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 XC, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-90.html, id L00108.
Form and metre
Sonnet XC 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 93%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 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 nowA · crossB · bowA · lossB · sorrowC · woeD · morrowC · overthrowD · lastE · spiteF · tasteE · mightF · woeG · soG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross, | 10 | ·········· |
| Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And do not drop in for an after-loss: | 10 | ·········· |
| Ah! do not, when my heart hath ’scap’d this sorrow, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Come in the rearward of a conquer’d woe; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Give not a windy night a rainy morrow, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| To linger out a purpos’d overthrow. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last, | 10 | ·········· |
| When other petty griefs have done their spite, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| But in the onset come: so shall I taste | 10 | ···/······ |
| At first the very worst of fortune’s might; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And other strains of woe, which now seem woe, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Compar’d with loss of thee, will not seem so. | 10 | ˘/········ |
Notes from the edition 3
Notes by William J. Rolfe, Shakespeare's Sonnets (New York, 1905), Internet Archive scan
- Line 6 The rearward, etc. Cf. Much Ado, iv. I. 128 : — "Thought I thy spirits were stionger than thy shames, Myself would, on the rearward of reproaches, Strike at thy life."
- Line 7 Give not a windy night, etc. Referring to the fact that wind often precedes rain. Cf. T. and C. iv. 4. 55, A', of L. 1788, etc.
- Line 13 Strains of woe. Dowden quotes Much Ado, v. I. 12 : — " Measure his woe the length and breadth of mine, And let it answer every strain for strain."
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