Analysis of O Never Say That I Was False of Heart

William Shakespeare 1564 (Stratford-upon-Avon) – 1616 (Stratford-upon-Avon)



O never say that I was false of heart,
Though absence seem'd my flame to qualify:
As easy might I from myself depart
As from my soul, which in thy breast doth lie;

That is my home of love; if I have ranged,
Like him that travels, I return again,
Just to the time, not with the time exchanged,
So that myself bring water for my stain.

Never believe, though in my nature reign'd
All frailties that besiege all kinds of blood,
That it could so preposterously be stain'd
To leave for nothing all thy sum of good:

For nothing this wide universe I call,
Save thou, my rose: in it thou art my all.


Scheme ABAB CXCX DXDX EE
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111111 110111110 110111101 1111101111 1111111111 1111010101 1101110101 111110111 1001101101 1101011111 1111111 1111011111 110111011 1111011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 585
Words 117
Sentences 3
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 2
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 114
Words per stanza (avg) 29
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

36 sec read
242

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". more…

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