Sonnet XCIII
So shall I live, supposing thou art true,Like a deceived husband; so love’s faceMay still seem love to me, though alter’d new;Thy looks with me, thy heart in other place:For there can live no hatred in thine eye,Therefore in that I cannot know thy change.In many’s looks, the false heart’s historyIs writ in moods, and frowns, and wrinkles strange.But heaven in thy creation did decreeThat in thy face sweet love should ever dwell;Whate’er thy thoughts, or thy heart’s workings be,Thy looks should nothing thence, but sweetness tell.How like Eve’s apple doth thy beauty grow,If thy sweet virtue answer not thy show!
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,]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XCIII 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 XCIII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-93.html, id L00111.
Form and metre
Sonnet XCIII 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 88%). 97% 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 trueA · faceB · newA · placeB · eyeC · changeD · historyC · strangeD · decreeE · dwellF · beE · tellF · growG · showG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| So shall I live, supposing thou art true, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Like a deceived husband; so love’s face | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| May still seem love to me, though alter’d new; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thy looks with me, thy heart in other place: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For there can live no hatred in thine eye, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Therefore in that I cannot know thy change. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In many’s looks, the false heart’s history | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Is writ in moods, and frowns, and wrinkles strange. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But heaven in thy creation did decree | 10 | ·/··˘/˘·˘/ |
| That in thy face sweet love should ever dwell; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Whate’er thy thoughts, or thy heart’s workings be, | 11 | ˘˘/·····/˘· |
| Thy looks should nothing thence, but sweetness tell. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| How like Eve’s apple doth thy beauty grow, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| If thy sweet virtue answer not thy show! | 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.