For more detail on feet, figures and displaced beats, see my three posts on ‘Iambic Pentameter & the Principles of Metrical Variation’. Those figures in red contain displaced beats. Some feet combine with each other to form metrical figures, and I have not divided the figures into individual feet. In this post I aim to provide a careful metrical analysis of Shakespeare’s opening sonnet, and hope to illustrate how an understanding of meter can enhance our appreciation of his work.
