Sonnet 138

E498373

Sonnet 138 is one of William Shakespeare’s best-known sonnets, notable for its ironic exploration of love, deception, and self-delusion in a mature romantic relationship.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Sonnet 138 canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf English sonnet ⓘ
Shakespearean sonnet ⓘ
poem ⓘ
addressee a mistress ⓘ
author William Shakespeare ⓘ
centralConflict tension between truth and comforting lies ⓘ
collection Shakespearean sonnets ⓘ
linked to: Sonnets
countryOfOrigin England ⓘ
firstLine When my love swears that she is made of truth ⓘ
form sonnet ⓘ
hasCoupletFunction epigrammatic conclusion ⓘ
hasInfluenceOn later interpretations of Shakespeare’s treatment of the Dark Lady ⓘ
isFrequentlyAnthologized true ⓘ
isOftenGroupedWith Dark Lady sonnets ⓘ
linked to: Dark Lady
language English ⓘ
laterPublication Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609) ⓘ
literaryDevice antithesis ⓘ
irony ⓘ
metaphor ⓘ
paradox ⓘ
wordplay ⓘ
literaryMovement Elizabethan literature ⓘ
linked to: English Renaissance
literaryPeriod English Renaissance ⓘ
meter iambic pentameter ⓘ
notableFeature exploration of mature love rather than idealized love ⓘ
mutual acceptance of lies in a relationship ⓘ
self-conscious commentary on truth and falsehood ⓘ
use of paradox ⓘ
numberOfLines 14 ⓘ
originalPublication The Passionate Pilgrim ⓘ
originalPublicationYear 1599 ⓘ
rhymeScheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG ⓘ
sonnetSequencePosition 138 ⓘ
speaker an aging male lover ⓘ
subjectMatter the speaker’s awareness of his mistress’s lies ⓘ
the speaker’s own lies about his age ⓘ
the speaker’s willingness to be deceived ⓘ
theme aging ⓘ
appearance versus reality ⓘ
deception ⓘ
love ⓘ
mutual dishonesty ⓘ
self-delusion ⓘ
sexual relationships ⓘ
trust ⓘ
tone cynical ⓘ
ironic ⓘ
wry ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Sonnets → hasPart → Sonnet 138 ⓘ
Dark Lady → hasNotableWork → Sonnet 138 ⓘ