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
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 22, 2023

36 sec read
75

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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