A Short Analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet CXLII Sonnet 142 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. Original sonnet Paraphrase LOVE is my sin and thy dear virtue hate, Hate of my sin, grounded on sinful loving: O, but with mine compare thou thine own state, And thou shalt find it merits not reproving; Love is my sin, and your inmost virtue is hate: You hate of my love for you because of your own adultery: But with my state compare your own condition, And you will find it does not deserve blame; Or, if it do, not from those lips of thine, That have profaned their scarlet ornaments And seal'd false bonds of love as oft as mine, Robb'd others' beds' revenues of their rents. Or if it does, at least not from your own lips, That have disgraced their attractive red hue, And sealed false bonds with a kiss as often as I have, And stolen married men from their domestic beds. Be it lawful I love thee, as thou lovest those Whom thine eyes woo as mine importune thee: Root pity in thy heart, that when it grows Thy pity may deserve to pitied be. Let me then love you as much as you love those Whom your eyes woo, while mine long for a response from you; Put pity in your heart so that when it grows, You will then deserve to be pitied. If thou dost seek to have what thou dost hide, By self-example mayst thou be denied! If you seek the love you withhold from me, You may be refused as you have refused me. [Line 2]*: Actually reads "You hate my love, not because it is sinful, but because you love other men sinfully". The poet knows that her true reason for rejecting him is that she pursues other lovers. Source: https://interestingliterature.com/2016/09/05/a-short-analysis-of-shakespeares-sonnet-2-when-forty-winters/
