Sonnet 98 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. The 4th line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter: × / × / × / × / × / That heavy Saturn laugh'd and leap'd with him. (98.4) :/ =
ictus, a metrically strong syllabic position. × =
nonictus. The 12th line potentially exhibits two metrical variations: first, an initial reversal, second, the rightward movement of the fourth ictus (resulting in a four-position figure, × × / /, sometimes referred to as a
minor ionic): / × × / × / × × / / Drawn after you, you pattern of all those. (98.12) The same variations, in the same positions, are also potentially present in line 5. However, if the repetition of the word "nor" draws special emphasis from the reader, both positions would be affected, resulting in the somewhat more regular: × / × / × / / × × / Yet nor the lays of birds nor the sweet smell (98.5) The meter demands a few variant pronunciations: line 3's "spirit" is one syllable (possibly pronounced as ''spear't
, sprite
, sprit
, or spurt''), line 6's "different" is two syllables and "flowers" is one. ==Source and analysis==