Sonnet 44 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is a member of the Fair Youth sequence, in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man. Sonnet 44 is continued in Sonnet 45.
Structure Sonnet 44 is an English or Shakespearean sonnet, which contains three quatrains followed by a final rhyming couplet. It follows the typical rhyme scheme of the form, ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, and is written in iambic pentameter, a type of poetic metre based on five pairs of metrically weak/strong syllabic positions. The fifth line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter: × / × / × / × / × / No matter then although my foot did stand (44.5) / = ictus, a metrically strong syllabic position. × = nonictus.
The sonnet is quite regular metrically (for example, a three-syllable "injurious" maintains regularity in line two), but implements a few variations, for example in the first and last lines: × × / / × / × / × / If the dull substance of my flesh were thought, (44.1)
× / × / / × × / × / But heavy tears, badges of either's woe. (44.14) ...which contain, respectively, a rightward movement of the first ictus (resulting in a four-position figure, × × / /, sometimes referred to as a minor ionic), and a mid-line reversal ("badges").
Criticism Critics have mentioned Sonnet 44 is directly coupled to Sonnet 45 and lacks a definite conclusion.
Recordings Poeterra, for the 2014 album, When in Disgrace Paul Kelly, for the 2016 album, Seven Sonnets & a Song
References
Further reading
External links Analysis Shakespeare Online