Analysis of Sonnet XXXVII: Dear, Why Should You

Michael Drayton 1563 (Hartshill) – 1631 (London)



Dear, why should you command me to my rest
When now the night doth summon all to sleep?
Methinks this time becometh lovers best;
Night was ordain'd, together friends to keep;
How happy are all other living things
Which through the day disjoin by sev'ral flight,
The quiet ev'ning yet together brings,
And each returns unto his love at night.
O thou, that art so courteous else to all,
Why shouldst thou, Night, abuse me only thus,
That ev'ry creature to his kind dost call,
And yet 'tis thou dost only sever us?
Well could I wish it would be ever day,
If when night comes you bid me go away.


Scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG
Poetic Form Shakespearean sonnet 
Metre 1111011111 1101110111 1111101 1101010111 1101110101 11011111 0101110101 0101101111 11111100111 1111011101 111011111 0111110101 1111111101 1111111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 599
Words 113
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 459
Words per stanza (avg) 111
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
108

Michael Drayton

Michael Drayton was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. more…

All Michael Drayton poems | Michael Drayton Books

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