Analysis of Sonnet 34: Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day

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



Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day
And make me travel forth without my cloak,
To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way,
Hiding thy brav'ry in their rotten smoke?
'Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break,
To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face,
For no man well of such a salve can speak
That heals the wound and cures not the disgrace.
Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief;
Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss.
Th' offender's sorrow lends but weak relief
To him that bears the strong offence's cross.
    Ah, but those tears are pearl which thy love sheds,
    And they are rich, and ransom all ill deeds.


Scheme ABABCDEDFGFGHI
Poetic Form
Metre 111101011 0111010111 111111011 101101101 1101110111 1101111101 1111110111 1101011001 111111111 1101111101 1111011101 11110111 1111111111 0111010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 633
Words 122
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 490
Words per stanza (avg) 120
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

37 sec read
55

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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