Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,Some in their wealth, some in their body’s force;Some in their garments, though new-fangled ill;Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse;And every humour hath his adjunct pleasure,Wherein it finds a joy above the restBut these particulars are not my measure;All these I better in one general best.Thy love is better than high birth to me,Richer than wealth, prouder than garments’ cost,Of more delight than hawks or horses be;And having thee, of all men’s pride I boastWretched in this alone, that thou mayst takeAll this away and me most wretched make. | ||
Q1Q2Q3C Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,Some in their wealth, some in their body’s force;Some in their garments, though new-fangled ill;Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse;And every humour hath his adjunct pleasure,Wherein it finds a joy above the restBut these particulars are not my measure;All these I better in one general best.Thy love is better than high birth to me,Richer than wealth, prouder than garments’ cost,Of more delight than hawks or horses be;And having thee, of all men’s pride I boastWretched in this alone, that thou mayst takeAll this away and me most wretched make. | ||
Sonnet 91 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It's a member of the Fair Youth sequence, in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man.
Contents
Paraphrase
Some people delight in their noble ancestry; some in their abilities; some in their wealth or strength; some in their hunting animals. But I don't take joy in any of these things because I have something even better: To me your love is better than noble ancestry, wealth, expensive clothes or hunting animals. And as long as I have you, I feel prouder than anyone else. But I am also cursed in only a single thing: that if you stop loving me, I will become the most wretched person.
Structure
Sonnet 91 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 11th line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter:
× / × / × / × / × / Of more delight than hawks and horses be; (91.11)/ = ictus, a metrically strong syllabic position. × = nonictus.The sonnet abounds with metrical variants. Lines 5 and 7 have a final extrametrical syllable or feminine ending. Line 2 exhibits both an initial and a mid-line reversal, two of at least nine such reversals in the poem.
/ × × / / × × / × / Some in their wealth, some in their bodies' force, (91.2)Both lines 8 and 9 may be scanned to exhibit the rightward movement of the third ictus (resulting in a four-position figure, × × / /, sometimes referred to as a minor ionic):