Analysis of Sonnet X: To Nothing Fitter

Michael Drayton 1563 (Hartshill) – 1631 (London)



To nothing fitter can I thee compare
Than to the son of some rich penny-father,
Who, having now brought on his end with care,
Leaves to his son all he had heap'd together;
This new rich novice, lavish of his chest,
To one man gives, doth on another spend,
Then here he riots, yet among the rest
Haps to lend some to one true honest friend.
Thy gifts thou in obscurity dost waste,
False friends thy kindness, born but to deceive thee,
Thy love that is on the unworthy plac'd,
Time hath thy beauty, which with age will leave thee;
Only that little which to me was lent
I give thee back, when all the rest is spent.


Scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG
Poetic Form Shakespearean sonnet 
Metre 1101011101 11011111010 1101111111 11111111010 1111010111 1111110101 1111010101 1111111101 1110010011 11110111011 1111100101 11110111111 1011011111 1111110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 620
Words 120
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 474
Words per stanza (avg) 118
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
113

Michael Drayton

Michael Drayton was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. more…

All Michael Drayton poems | Michael Drayton Books

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