Analysis of Sonnet 21
John Milton 1608 (Cheapside) – 1674 (Chalfont St Giles)
Cyriac, whose grandsire on the royal bench
Of British Themis, with no mean applause
Pronounced and in his volumes taught our laws,
Which others at their bar so often wrench;
Today deep thoughts resolve with me to drench
In mirth, that after no repenting draws;
Let Euclid rest and Archimedes pause,
And what the Swede intends, and what the French.
To measure life learn thou betimes, and know
Toward solid good what leads the nearest way;
For other things mild Heav'n a time ordains,
And disapproves that care, though wise in show,
That with superfluous burden loads the day,
And, when God sends a cheerful hour, refrains.
Scheme | ABBAABBACDBCDE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 110111101 01001101101 1101111101 0111011111 0111010101 110100101 0101010101 110111101 01101110101 110111011 0001111101 111010101 01110101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 620 |
Words | 110 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 497 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 107 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 22, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 88 Views
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"Sonnet 21" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23879/sonnet-21>.
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