Sonnet 143
Sonnet 143 | |||||||
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Sonnet 143 is one of
Structure
Sonnet 143 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 7th line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter:
× / × / × / × / × / To follow that which flies before her face, (143.7)
- / = ictus, a metrically strong syllabic position. × = nonictus.
Line 2 begins with a common metrical variation, an initial reversal:
/ × × / × / × / × / One of her feather'd creatures broke away, (143.2)
Initial reversals occur in lines 2 and 6, and potentially in lines 1, 3, 5, and 13. Several phrases which might imply a metrical variant in other contexts are rendered doubtful in this poem because of the frequency with which contrastive accent on pronouns is suggested by both the nature of the story and the meter. For example, line 5 is capable of both an initial and a mid-line reversal:
/ × × / × / / × × / Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase, (143.5)
However, the story's emphasis on pronouns may render a regular reading more likely:
× / × / × / × / × / Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase, (143.5)
Similarly line 12's "kiss me" — which in most contexts would reverse the ictus to the tonic stress of "kiss" — might here retain a regular rhythm by implying contrastive accent on "me". Lines 8 and 12 may also suggest accentuated pronouns which maintain a regular rhythm.
The meter demands line 4's "pursuit" be stressed on the first syllable.[2]
Notes
- OCLC 4770201.
- ISBN 978-1-921867-81-1.
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.