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Sonnet · Love

Sonnet 136: If thy soul check thee that I come so near

by William Shakespeare

1If thy soul check thee that I come so near,

2Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy 'Will',

3And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there;

4Thus far for love, my love-suit, sweet, fulfil.

5'Will', will fulfil the treasure of thy love,

6Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one.

7In things of great receipt with ease we prove

8Among a number one is reckon'd none:

9Then in the number let me pass untold,

10Though in thy store's account I one must be;

11For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold

12That nothing me, a something sweet to thee:

13 Make but my name thy love, and love that still,

14 And then thou lov'st me for my name is 'Will.'

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Quick facts

Poem
Sonnet 136: If thy soul check thee that I come so near
Poet
William Shakespeare
Length
14 lines
Form
Sonnet
Themes
Love, Peace

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape
14 lines · one 14-line stanza
Line length
Mostly 10-syllable lines (pentameter length).
The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record
William Shakespeare1564–1616
Source record
PoetryDBSonnet 136: If thy soul check thee that I come so near by william-shakespeare, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision
Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record
Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint
SHA-256 4dc4f9d11ff83ee8
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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