Analysis of Sonnet 13: O, that you were your self! But, love, you are

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



O, that you were your self! But, love, you are
No longer yours than you yourself here live.
Against this coming end you should prepare,
And your sweet semblance to some other give.
So should that beauty which you hold in lease
Find no determination; then you were
Yourself again after yourself's decease,
When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear.
Who lets so fair a house fall to decay,
Which husbandry in honour might uphold
Against the stormy gusts of winter's day
And barren rage of death's eternal cold?
    O, none but unthrifts! Dear my love, you know,
    You had a father; let your son say so.


Scheme ABCDEFECGHGHII
Poetic Form
Metre 1110111111 1101110111 0111011101 0111011101 1111011101 110010110 010110101 1111011111 1111011101 110001101 0101011101 0101110101 111111111 1101011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 605
Words 111
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 473
Words per stanza (avg) 109
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

34 sec read
63

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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