Sonnet 131
Sonnet 131 | |||||||
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Sonnet 131 is a sonnet written by William Shakespeare and was first published in a 1609 quarto edition titled Shakespeare's sonnets.[2][3] It is a part of the Dark Lady sequence (consisting of sonnets 127–52), which are addressed to an unknown woman usually assumed to possess a dark complexion.[4][5]
The sonnet, like the others in this sequence, addresses the Dark Lady as if a mistress. It references allegations from unspecified others that her "black" complexion makes her unattractive and rebuts these, but in the final two lines turns the compliment into a backhanded one by admitting that "In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds".
Structure
Sonnet 131 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 10th line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter:
× / × / × / × / × / A thousand groans, but thinking on thy face, (131.10)
Booth and Kerrigan agree that lines 2 and 4 should be construed as having a final extrametrical syllable or feminine ending.[11][12] Moreover, line 4 potentially exhibits both of the other two common metrical variants: an initial reversal, and the rightward movement of the third ictus (resulting in a four-position figure, × × / /
, sometimes referred to as a minor ionic):
/ × × / × × / / × /(×) Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel. (131.4)
- / = ictus, a metrically strong syllabic position. × = nonictus. (×) = extrametrical syllable.
Line 11 also features an initial reversal. Largely because of a number of one-syllable function words in the poem, several lines (1, 4, 5, and 9) have potential initial reversals, depending upon the emphasis chosen. Similarly, lines 1 and 9 potentially contain mid-line reversals, while that in line 13 is surer. Line 3 potentially contains a minor ionic.
The meter demands that line 6's "power" function as one syllable.[13]
References
All references to Sonnet 131, unless otherwise specified, are taken from the Arden Shakespeare third series (Duncan-Jones 2010). In references to this work, p.376–7 refers to a specific page or set of pages; 131.1 refers to the first line of sonnet 131; and 131.1n refers to the note associated with the first line of sonnet 131.[14] Where possible references are double-cited to The Oxford Shakespeare ([15]), with the same reference system, for convenience.[15]
Notes
- OCLC 4770201.
- ^ Duncan-Jones 2010, p. 1.
- ^ Burrow 2002, pp. 91–3.
- ^ Duncan-Jones 2010, pp. 99–100.
- ^ Burrow 2002, pp. 131–3.
- ^ Duncan-Jones 2010, 131.13.
- ^ Duncan-Jones 2010, p. 376.
- ^ Duncan-Jones 2010, 131.1n.
- ^ Burrow 2002, 131.1n.
- ^ Duncan-Jones 2010, 131.9–10n.
- ^ Booth 2000, p. 455.
- ^ Kerrigan 1995, p. 360.
- ^ Booth 2000, p. 112.
- ^ Duncan-Jones 2010.
- ^ a b Burrow 2002.
Sources
- 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.
External links
- Sonnet 131—facsimile of sonnet 131 from the Internet Shakespeare Editions