Analysis of Sonnet XXXIX: Some, When in Rhyme

Michael Drayton 1563 (Hartshill) – 1631 (London)



Some, when in rhyme they of their loves do tell,
With flames and lightnings their exordiums paint;
Some call on Heav'n, some invocate on Hell,
And Fates and Furies with their woes acquaint.
Elysium is too high a seat for me;
I will not come in Styx or Phlegethon;
The thrice-three Muses but too wanton be;
Like they that lust, I care not; I will none.
Spiteful Erinnys frights me with her looks;
My manhood dares not with foul Ate mell;
I quake to look on Hecate's charming books;
I still fear bugbears in Apollo's cell.
I pass not for Minerva nor Astraea;
Only I call on my divine Idea.


Scheme ABABCDCDEAEAFG
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111111 11010111 11111111 010111101 01001110111 11110111 0111011101 1111111111 10111101 11111111 111111101 111100101 111101011 10111101010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 595
Words 112
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 456
Words per stanza (avg) 110
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
72

Michael Drayton

Michael Drayton was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. more…

All Michael Drayton poems | Michael Drayton Books

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