Sonnet 136

« » Sonnet 136
Sonnet 136 in the 1609 Quarto
Q1 Q2 Q3 C If thy soul check thee that I come so near, Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy “Will,” And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there; Thus far for love, my love-suit, sweet, fulfil. “Will” will fulfil the treasure of thy love, Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one. In things of great receipt with ease we prove Among a number one is reckon’d none: Then in the number let me pass untold, Though in thy store’s account I one must be; For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold That nothing me, a something sweet to thee: Make but my name thy love, and love that still, And then thou lov’st me, for my name is “Will.” 4 8 12 14 —William Shakespeare

Q1



Q2



Q3



C

If thy soul check thee that I come so near,
Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy “Will,”
And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there;
Thus far for love, my love-suit, sweet, fulfil.
“Will” will fulfil the treasure of thy love,
Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one.
In things of great receipt with ease we prove
Among a number one is reckon’d none:
Then in the number let me pass untold,
Though in thy store’s account I one must be;
For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold
That nothing me, a something sweet to thee:
Make but my name thy love, and love that still,
And then thou lov’st me, for my name is “Will.”

4



8



12

14

Sonnet 136 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare.

Sonnet 136 is an English or Shakespearean sonnet. The English sonnet has three quatrains, followed by a final rhyming couplet. It follows the typical rhyme scheme of the form abab cdcd efef gg and is composed in iambic pentameter, a type of poetic metre based on five pairs of metrically weak/strong syllabic positions. The 7th line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter:

The 9th line begins with a common metrical variation, an initial reversal:

Initial reversals also occur in lines 2, 5, and 13, and potentially in line 10. Mid-line reversals potentially occur in lines 2 and 3; however, both of these lines present similar metrical difficulties. In line 2 for example:

If "blind" is given accent, the meter in that section becomes regular; however it is not clear that this is rhetorically appropriate (for example, it is not being contrasted with a "sighted soul"). If not given accent, this results in a case where both "blind" and "soul" have tonic stress, but that of "blind" is normally subordinated to that of "soul", allowing them comfortably to fill odd/even positions, but not even/odd (as they do here). The string of functional monosyllables which follow must themselves be scanned by context rather than implicit lexical stress. A reversal of the third ictus (which would better accommodate "soul") is normally preceded by at least a slight intonational break, which "blind soul" does not allow. Nevertheless, the line might be scanned: