Analysis of Sonnet 148: O me! what eyes hath love put in my head

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



O me! what eyes hath love put in my head,
Which have no correspondence with true sight!
Or, if they have, where is my judgment fled,
That censures falsely what they see aright?
If that be fair whereon my false eyes dote,
What means the world to say it is not so?
If it be not, then love doth well denote
Love's eye is not so true as all men's "no."
How can it? O, how can love's eye be true,
That is so vexed with watching and with tears?
No marvel then though I mistake my view;
The sun it self sees not, 'till heaven clears.
    O cunning love, with tears thou keep'st me blind,
    Lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find.


Scheme ABAACDCDEFEGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111011 111010111 1111111101 11101111 111111111 1101111111 1111111101 1111111111 1111111111 1111110011 1101110111 0111111101 11011111111 1111011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 630
Words 127
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 475
Words per stanza (avg) 124
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
83

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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