Analysis of Sonnet 138: When my love swears that she is made of truth
William Shakespeare 1564 (Stratford-upon-Avon) – 1616 (Stratford-upon-Avon)
When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutored youth,
Unlearnèd in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue;
On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love, loves not to have years told.
Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flattered be.
Scheme | ABACDEDEFGFGHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111111 1101011111 11111111 110011100 1101011111 111111101 1011001101 1111110101 111111101 011111111 1111010101 0101111111 111100111 00101111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 619 |
Words | 119 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 478 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 117 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 94 Views
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"Sonnet 138: When my love swears that she is made of truth" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41437/sonnet-138%3A-when-my-love-swears-that-she-is-made-of-truth>.
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