Analysis of Sonnet 12: When I do count the clock that tells the time
William Shakespeare 1564 (Stratford-upon-Avon) – 1616 (Stratford-upon-Avon)
When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls all silvered o'er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.
Scheme | ABABCDCEFGFGHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011101 01011101001 1101010011 0101111011 1101111011 1111110001 010111101 110111011 1111011101 1101011111 1101010101 0111111101 0101111101 1111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 624 |
Words | 120 |
Sentences | 2 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 490 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 118 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 249 Views
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"Sonnet 12: When I do count the clock that tells the time" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41418/sonnet-12%3A-when-i-do-count-the-clock-that-tells-the-time>.
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