Iambic Pentameter In Shakespeare's Sonnet 141 By William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare’s sonnet 141 is a poem of fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is a poetic verse composed of ten syllables per line. The ten syllables are called a foot and appear in pairs of five. The syllables alternate in an unstressed and stressed rhythm. This rhythm is similar to a heartbeat, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM. In addition, the sonnet is broken up into three quatrains and one couplet. A quatrain is a verse composed of four lines with an altering rhyme pattern, and a couplet is a verse composed of two rhymed lines. The last quatrain usually includes a “turn” which typically appears at the beginning of line number nine. A turn signifies a change of direction either in the author’s attitude, circumstance, or point of view. Sonnet 141 is also one of Shakespeare’s “dark lady” sonnets. These sonnets deal with the author 's relationship with his mistress. In sonnet 141, the author describes how his five senses and five wits are showing him certain stark truths regarding the “dark lady”, but he chooses to ignore them all. He knows her faults and flaws, and loves her anyway. In spite of everything that his senses and wits are telling him, his heart remains unconvinced. He continues doting on his mistress. A fool for love, they …show more content…
One can presume from this remark that compared to the standards of beauty at that time, her appearance must be terribly flawed. Notice how the author chooses to use the word, “thousand” instead of “hundred”. Both words have the same number of syllables, and yet the author chose to use the higher number to note his lover’s physical faults. He continues by saying that his heart loves what his eyes despise, and despite the flaws they see he still dotes on her. Regardless of how unattractive, he still loves