Analysis of Sonnet 139: O, call not me to justify the wrong

William Shakespeare 1564 (Stratford-upon-Avon) – 1616 (Stratford-upon-Avon)



O, call not me to justify the wrong
That thy unkindness lays upon my heart
Wound me not with thine eye but with thy tongue;
Use power with power, and slay me not by art.
Tell me thou lov'st elsewhere, but in my sight,
Dear heart forbear to glance thine eye aside;
What need'st thou wound with cunning when thy might
Is more than my o'erpressed defence can bide?
Let me excuse thee: "Ah, my love well knows,
Her pretty looks have been mine enemies,
And therefore from my face she turns my foes,
That they elsewhere might dart their injuries."
    Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,
    Kill me outright with looks and rid my pain.


Scheme ABCBDEDEFGFGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 111111001 11110111 1111111111 110110011111 111111011 111111101 11111110111 111110111 1101111111 0101111100 011111111 111111100 1111111111 1111110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 631
Words 123
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 487
Words per stanza (avg) 120
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

37 sec read
61

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". more…

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