Analysis of Sonnet 106: When in the chronicle of wasted time

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



When in the chronicle of wasted time
I see descriptions of the fairest wights,
And beauty making beautiful old rhyme
In praise of ladies dead, and lovely knights,
Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty's best,
Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow,
I see their antique pen would have expressed
Even such a beauty as you master now.
So all their praises are but prophecies
Of this our time, all you prefiguring;
And, for they looked but with divining eyes,
They had not skill enough your worth to sing.
    For we, which now behold these present days,
    Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.


Scheme ABABCDCDBEBEBB
Poetic Form
Metre 1001001101 1101010101 0101010011 0111010101 10011111 1111111111 1110111101 10101011101 1111011100 11101111 0111110101 1111011111 1111011101 1111011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 599
Words 112
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 466
Words per stanza (avg) 110
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 28, 2023

33 sec read
94

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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