Analysis of Sonnet XL: But Love

Samuel Daniel 1562 (Taunton) – 1619



But love whilst that thou mayst be lov'd again,
Now whilst thy May hath fill'd thy lap with flowers;
Now, whilst thy beauty bears without a stain,
Now use thy Summer smiles ere Winter lours.
And whilst thou spread'st unto the rising sun,
The fairest flower that ever saw the light,
Now joy thy time before thy sweet be done;
And, Delia, think thy morning must have night,
And that thy brightness sets at length to west,
When thou wilt close up that which now thou showest,
And think the same becomes thy fading best
Which then shall hide it most and cover lowest.
Men do not weigh the stalk for that it was;
When once they find her flower, her glory pass.


Scheme ABCBDEDEFEFGHI
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111101 11111111110 1111010101 1111011101 01111100101 01010110101 1111011111 0101110111 0111011111 1111111111 0101011101 11111101010 1111011111 11110100101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 663
Words 125
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 37
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 513
Words per stanza (avg) 123
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
38

Samuel Daniel

Samuel Daniel was an English poet and historian. more…

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