Sonnet XCII
But do thy worst to steal thyself away,For term of life thou art assured mine;And life no longer than thy love will stay,For it depends upon that love of thine.Then need I not to fear the worst of wrongs,When in the least of them my life hath end.I see a better state to me belongsThan that which on thy humour doth depend:Thou canst not vex me with inconstant mind,Since that my life on thy revolt doth lie.O! what a happy title do I find,Happy to have thy love, happy to die!But what’s so blessed-fair that fears no blot?Thou mayst be false, and yet I know it not.
Words in this poem
- humour n.
- Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc. [OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XCII 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 XCII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-92.html, id L00110.
Form and metre
Sonnet XCII 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 10.0 syllables. 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 awayA · mineB · stayA · thineB · wrongsC · endD · belongsC · dependD · mindE · lieF · findE · dieF · blotG · notG
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 do thy worst to steal thyself away, | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| For term of life thou art assured mine; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| And life no longer than thy love will stay, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For it depends upon that love of thine. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Then need I not to fear the worst of wrongs, | 10 | ·········· |
| When in the least of them my life hath end. | 10 | ·········· |
| I see a better state to me belongs | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Than that which on thy humour doth depend: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Thou canst not vex me with inconstant mind, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Since that my life on thy revolt doth lie. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| O! what a happy title do I find, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Happy to have thy love, happy to die! | 10 | /˘····/˘·· |
| But what’s so blessed-fair that fears no blot? | 10 | ····˘····· |
| Thou mayst be false, and yet I know it not. | 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.