Analysis of Sonnet XVIII

Edmund Spenser 1552 (London) – 1599 (London)



THe rolling wheele that runneth often round,
The hardest steele in tract of time doth teare:
and drizling drops that often doe redound,
the firmest flint doth in continuance weare.
Yet cannot I with many a dropping teare,
and long intreaty soften her hard hart:
that she will once vouchsafe my plaint to heare,
or looke with pitty on my payneful smart.
But when I pleade, she bids me play my part,
and when I weep, she sayes teares are but water:
and when I sigh, she sayes I know the art,
and when I waile she turnes hir selfe to laughter.
So doe I weepe, and wayle, and pleade in vaine,
whiles she as steele and flint doth still remayne.


Scheme ABABBCBCCDCDEE
Poetic Form Spenserian sonnet 
Metre 010111101 0101011111 011110101 01011001001 11011100101 01110011 111111111 11111111 1111111111 01111111110 0111111101 01111111110 1111010101 111101111
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 634
Words 123
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 500
Words per stanza (avg) 121
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
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Edmund Spenser

Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. more…

All Edmund Spenser poems | Edmund Spenser Books

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