Analysis of Sonnet 121:Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed

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



'Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed,
When not to be receives reproach of being;
And the just pleasure lost, which is so deemed
Not by our feeling, but by others' seeing:
For why should others' false adulterate eyes
Give salutation to my sportive blood?
Or on my frailties why are frailer spies,
Which in their wills count bad what I think good?
No, I am that I am, and they that level
At my abuses reckon up their own:
I may be straight though they themselves be bevel;
By their rank thoughts, my deeds must not be shown;
Unless this general evil they maintain,
All men are bad and in their badness reign.


Scheme ABABCDCEFGFGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111101 11110101110 0011011111 111010111010 1111010101 111111 111101111 1011111111 11111101110 1101010111 11111101110 1111111111 01110010101 1111001101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 606
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) 478
Words per stanza (avg) 115
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 19, 2023

35 sec read
162

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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