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.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 162 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCEFGFGHH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 606 |
Words | 117 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"Sonnet 121:Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 Oct. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/41420/sonnet-121:tis-better-to-be-vile-than-vile-esteemed>.
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