Analysis of Sonnet 30: When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

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



When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste.
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancelled woe,
And moan th' expense of many a vanished sight.
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoanèd moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
    But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
    All losses are restored and sorrows end.


Scheme ABACDEDEFGHIJJ
Poetic Form
Metre 1101011101 1101010111 11011100111 0111111111 1111110111 110110111 0101111101 0111011100101 1111110011 01001111110 0101110111 1111111101 1101111111 1101010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 614
Words 118
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 474
Words per stanza (avg) 116
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 18, 2023

36 sec read
166

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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