Analysis of Sonnet 53: What is your substance, whereof are you made
William Shakespeare 1564 (Stratford-upon-Avon) – 1616 (Stratford-upon-Avon)
What is your substance, whereof are you made,
That millions of strange shadows on you tend?
Since everyone hath, every one, one shade,
And you, but one, can every shadow lend.
Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit
Is poorly imitated after you;
On Helen's cheek all art of beauty set,
And you in Grecian tires are painted new.
Speak of the spring, and foison of the year;
The one doth shadow of your beauty show,
The other as your bounty doth appear,
And you in every blessèd shape we know.
In all external grace you have some part,
But you like none, none you, for constant heart.
Scheme | ABABCDEDFGFGHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111101111 110111111 1101100111 0111110011 010100010 110100101 1101111101 01010101101 110101101 011111101 0101110101 01010011111 0101011111 1111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 583 |
Words | 108 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 450 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 106 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 136 Views
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"Sonnet 53: What is your substance, whereof are you made" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41502/sonnet-53%3A-what-is-your-substance%2C-whereof-are-you-made>.
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