Sonnet 28: How can I then return in happy plight

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



How can I then return in happy plight
That am debarred the benefit of rest?
When day's oppression is not eased by night,
But day by night, and night by day oppressed?
And each, though enemies to either's reign,
Do in consent shake hands to torture me,
The one by toil, the other to complain
How far I toil, still farther off from thee.
I tell the day, to please him, thou art bright
And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven;
So flatter I the swart-complexioned night,
When sparkling stars twire not thou gild'st the even.
    But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer,
    And night doth nightly make grief's length seem stronger.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
83

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCDAEAFGG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 634
Words 118
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

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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    "Sonnet 28: How can I then return in happy plight" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/41475/sonnet-28:-how-can-i-then-return-in-happy-plight>.

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