Analysis of Sonnet 56: Sweet love, renew thy force, be it not said

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



Sweet love, renew thy force! Be it not said
Thy edge should blunter be than appetite,
Which but today by feeding is allayed,
Tomorrow sharpened in his former might.
So, love, be thou, although today thou fill
Thy hungry eyes, even till they wink with fulness,
Tomorrow see again, and do not kill
The spirit of love with a perpetual dullness.
Let this sad interim like the ocean be
Which parts the shore where two contracted new
Come daily to the banks, that, when they see
Return of love, more blest may be the view;
    As call it winter, which being full of care
    Makes summer's welcome thrice more wished, more rare.


Scheme ABCBDEDEFGEGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111111 111101110 1101110101 011001101 111110111 11011011111 011010111 0101110010010 11110010101 1101111001 1101011111 0111111101 11110110111 1101011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 617
Words 114
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 483
Words per stanza (avg) 112
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
126

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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