Sonnet · Love
Sonnet 36: Let me confess that we two must be twain
1Let me confess that we two must be twain,
2Although our undivided loves are one:
3So shall those blots that do with me remain,
4Without thy help, by me be borne alone.
5In our two loves there is but one respect,
6Though in our lives a separable spite,
7Which though it alter not love's sole effect,
8Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love's delight.
9I may not evermore acknowledge thee,
10Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame,
11Nor thou with public kindness honour me,
12Unless thou take that honour from thy name:
13 But do not so, I love thee in such sort,
14 As thou being mine, mine is thy good report.
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“Sonnet 36: Let me confess that we two must be twain” by William Shakespeare — quilloak.com/poems/sonnet-36
Quick facts
- Poem
- Sonnet 36: Let me confess that we two must be twain
- Poet
- William Shakespeare
- Length
- 14 lines
- Form
- Sonnet
- Themes
- Love
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
- Lines run 10-11 syllables (median 10), consistent with pentameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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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 36: Let me confess that we two must be twain 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 79ae18d9f9135675…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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