Analysis of Sonnet 102: My love is strengthened, though more weak in seeming

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



My love is strengthened, though more weak in seeming;
I love not less, though less the show appear;
That love is merchandized, whose rich esteeming
The owner's tongue doth publish everywhere.
Our love was new, and then but in the spring
When I was wont to greet it with my lays,
As Philomel in summer's front doth sing,
And stops her pipe in growth of riper days—
Not that the summer is less pleasant now
Than when her mournful hymns did hush the night,
But that wild music burthens every bough,
And sweets grown common lose their dear delight.
    Therefore like her I sometime hold my tongue,
    Because I would not dull you with my song.


Scheme ABACADADEFEFGH
Poetic Form
Metre 11110111010 1111110101 1111111 010111010 10111011001 1111111111 11010111 010101111 1101011101 1101011101 1111011001 0111011101 11011111 0111111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 638
Words 118
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 501
Words per stanza (avg) 116
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

36 sec read
186

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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