Analysis of Sonnet 61: Is it thy will thy image should keep open

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



Is it thy will thy image should keep open
My heavy eyelids to the weary night?
Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken
While shadows like to thee do mock my sight?
Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee
So far from home into my deeds to pry,
To find out shames and idle hours in me,
The scope and tenure of thy jealousy?
O, no, thy love, though much, is not so great;
It is my love that keeps mine eye awake,
Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,
To play the watchman ever for thy sake.
    For thee watch I whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,
    From me far off, with others all too near.


Scheme ABABCDCCEFGFHI
Poetic Form
Metre 11111101110 110110101 11010111110 111111111 11110111111 1111011111 11110101001 0101011100 1111111111 1111111101 1111111101 1101010111 111111111 1111110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 601
Words 123
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 461
Words per stanza (avg) 121
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 21, 2023

37 sec read
143

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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