Analysis of Sonnet 20: A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted
William Shakespeare 1564 (Stratford-upon-Avon) – 1616 (Stratford-upon-Avon)
A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted
Hast thou, the master-mistress of my passion;
A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted
With shifting change, as is false women's fashion;
An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,
Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth;
A man in hue, all hues in his controlling,
Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth.
And for a woman wert thou first created,
Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting,
And by addition me of thee defeated,
By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.
But since she pricked thee out for women's pleasure,
Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.
Scheme | ABCBDEDEADADFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011101110 11010101110 01010111010 11011111010 11111111010 1001010111 01011101010 111101011 01010111010 11011111010 01010111010 11011111010 11111111010 11110111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 652 |
Words | 115 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 508 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 113 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 22, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 75 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Sonnet 20: A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41466/sonnet-20%3A-a-woman%27s-face-with-nature%27s-own-hand-painted>.
Discuss this William Shakespeare poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In