Analysis of The Sonnets LVII - Being your slave what should I do but tend

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



Being your slave what should I do but tend,
Upon the hours, and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend;
Nor services to do, till you require.
Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour,
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour,
When you have bid your servant once adieu;
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought
Save, where you are, how happy you make those.
So true a fool is love, that in your will,
Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.


Scheme ABABBCBCDEAEFF
Poetic Form
Metre 1011111111 010100111010 1111011111 1100111110 11110101110 1111010111 11010011010 1111110101 1111011101 1111110101 1101110111 1111110111 1101111011 111101111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 597
Words 117
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 469
Words per stanza (avg) 117
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on April 21, 2023

35 sec read
14

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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