Analysis of Sonnet 64: When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced

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



When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced
The rich-proud cost of outworn buried age;
When sometime lofty towers I see down-razed
And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;
When I have seen the hungry ocean gain
Advantage on the kingdom of the shore,
And the firm soil win of the watery main,
Increasing store with loss, and loss with store;
When I have seen such interchange of state,
Or state it self confounded to decay,
Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate
That Time will come and take my love away.
    This thought is as a death which cannot choose
    But weep to have that which it fears to lose.


Scheme ABCBDEDEFGFGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111101 011111101 1110101111 0101011101 1111010101 0101010101 00111101001 0101110111 111110111 1111010101 101111110 1111011101 1111011101 1111111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 598
Words 114
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 471
Words per stanza (avg) 112
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
96

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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