Sonnet 49 iambic pentameter: Line ten's "desert" would have been for Shakespeare a full rhyme with "part", as is suggested by the Quarto's spelling, "desart". Sonnet 49 Sonnet 49 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 49 is an English or Shakespearean sonnet. The English sonnet contains three quatrains followed by a final rhyming couplet, for a total of fourteen lines. It follows the form's typical rhyme scheme, "abab cdcd efef gg" and is
Sonnet 56 sonnet's first line was inspired by George Whetstone's "The Rocke of Regard" (1576). The sonnet is divided up into four quatrain, groups of four lines, and a couplet. Sonnet 56 is puzzling because of its seemingly inappropriate placement next to Sonnet 55. In Sonnet 55, the poet's relationship with the young man is steady and secure, but here there is a sudden shift from confidence to deep insecurity. In this sonnet the poet examines the "quality of love." It is not clear whose love is being addressed. The poet's, "his friend's, or that of both?" The poet "pleads for the