Analysis of Sonnet VII: How soon hath Time, the Subtle Thief of Youth
John Milton 1608 (Cheapside) – 1674 (Chalfont St Giles)
How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stol'n on his wing my three-and-twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on with full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth
That I to manhood am arriv'd so near;
And inward ripeness doth much less appear,
That some more timely-happy spirits endu'th.
Yet it be less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall be still in strictest measure ev'n
To that same lot, however mean or high,
Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heav'n:
All is, if I have grace to use it so
As ever in my great Task-Master's eye.
Scheme | ABBCABBADEFEDF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111010111 111111101001 1101111101 111111110111 0111010101 111110111 010111101 1111010101 1111111111 11110101011 111110111 01111100111 1111111111 1100111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 682 |
Words | 116 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 465 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 114 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 104 Views
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"Sonnet VII: How soon hath Time, the Subtle Thief of Youth" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23883/sonnet-vii%3A-how-soon-hath-time%2C-the-subtle-thief-of-youth>.
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