I need help with the meter in Shakespeare's Sonnet 87. I know usually his are iambic pentameter, but with eleven syllables in each line I can't make that work. HELP.

Lines and syllables:

1 = 11
2 = 10
3 = 11
4 = 10
5 = 11
6 = 11
7 = 11
8 = 11
9 = 11
10 = 11
11 = 11
12 = 11
13 = 11
14 = 11

Those 11th syllables are all -ing (suffixes, action, verb forms) except the last two, which are -er (not suffixes).

The two lines that are 10-syllable lines end with -ate. Any particular ideas you want to attach to those lines, since they are the different ones in this sonnet?

http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/87comm.htm
Scroll down for a decent analysis of this sonnet.

Here's another good interpretation of the poem that may give you ideas:
http://education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/shakespeares_sonnets/90.html

I think you'll have to state that, while he writes mostly in iambic pentameter, for some reason he adds an eleventh syllable to all but two of the lines in this sonnet. The reason for this has to be in the content of the poem. What is he saying? To whom is he speaking? Under what conditions is he saying all this?

Let us know what you think.

=)

Thanks for the help! The more I looked at it, the more confused I became!!

Shakespeare occasionally used what later because known as "sprung" meter.

Check this site on Hopkins.

http://www.enotes.com/sir-gawain

Certainly! Shakespeare's Sonnet 87 does indeed have an irregular meter, deviating from the typical iambic pentameter structure. While it is true that Shakespeare predominantly used iambic pentameter in his sonnets, he occasionally employed variations for artistic and rhythmic effect.

To analyze the meter in Sonnet 87, let's take a closer look at the first line:
"Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing"

To determine the meter, we need to identify the stressed (or accented) syllables and the unstressed (or unaccented) syllables in each line.

Let's break down the stressed and unstressed syllables in the line:
FareWELL! THOU | art TOO | DEAR FOR | my POS | sessing

The stressed syllables are capitalized, while the unstressed syllables are lowercase. Counting the number of stressed syllables, we find an irregular pattern of 4-2-3-3-3, totaling 15 syllables.

Since Sonnet 87 has eleven syllables per line, it does not fit the strict iambic pentameter pattern, which consists of five iambs (an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable) totaling ten syllables.

In this sonnet, Shakespeare intentionally deviates from the regular meter, possibly to convey heightened emotion or to emphasize certain words and phrases.

Overall, it is important to note that analyzing the meter in Sonnet 87 requires recognizing the irregularity in syllable count and stressing patterns. By understanding the exception to the traditional iambic pentameter, we can appreciate the unique rhythmic choices Shakespeare made in this particular sonnet.