Sonnet 122
Sonnet 122 | |||||||
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Sonnet 122 is one of
Structure
Sonnet 122 is an English or Shakespearean sonnet. The English sonnet has three quatrains, followed by a final rhyming couplet. It follows the typical rhyme scheme of the form ABAB CDCD EFEF GG and is composed in iambic pentameter, a type of poetic metre based on five pairs of metrically weak/strong syllabic positions. The 1st line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter:
× / × / × / × / × / Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain (122.1)
- / = ictus, a metrically strong syllabic position. × = nonictus.
Line 4 exhibits a mid-line reversal:
× / × / / × × / × / Beyond all date; even to eternity: (122.4)
Lines 3, 5, 11, and 14 all have potential initial reversals. Line 10 potentially incorporates a rightward movement of the third ictus (resulting in a four-position figure, × × / /
, sometimes referred to as a minor ionic):
× / × / × × / / × / Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score; (122.10)
However, if "thy" receives emphasis, the line becomes regular again.
The meter demands that line 4's "even" function as one syllable, and line 7's "oblivion" as three.[2]
Notes
- OCLC 4770201.
- ^ Kerrigan 1995, p. 344.
References
- First edition and facsimile
- Shakespeare, William (1609). Shake-speares Sonnets: Never Before Imprinted. London: Thomas Thorpe.
- OCLC 458829162.
- Variorum editions
- OCLC 234756.
- Modern critical editions
- Atkins, Carl D., ed. (2007). Shakespeare's Sonnets: With Three Hundred Years of Commentary. Madison: OCLC 86090499.
- OCLC 2968040.
- Burrow, Colin, ed. (2002). The Complete Sonnets and Poems. OCLC 48532938.
- OCLC 32272082.
- OCLC 15018446.
- Mowat, Barbara A.; Werstine, Paul, eds. (2006). Shakespeare's Sonnets & Poems. OCLC 64594469.
- OCLC 46683809.
- OCLC 36806589.