Sonnet 120: That you were once unkind befriends me now

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



That you were once unkind befriends me now,
And for that sorrow, which I then did feel,
Needs must I under my transgression bow,
Unless my nerves were brass or hammered steel.
For if you were by my unkindness shaken
As I by yours, y'have passed a hell of time,
And I, a tyrant, have no leisure taken
To weigh how once I suffered in your crime.
O, that our night of woe might have remembered
My deepest sense how hard true sorrow hits,
And soon to you, as you to me then, tendered
The humble salve which wounded bosoms fits!
    But that your trespass now becomes a fee;
    Mine ransoms yours, and yours must ransom me.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
138

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 614
Words 119
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 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…

All William Shakespeare poems | William Shakespeare Books

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    "Sonnet 120: That you were once unkind befriends me now" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/41419/sonnet-120:-that-you-were-once-unkind-befriends-me-now>.

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