Sonnet · Sad
Sonnet 48: How careful was I when I took my way
How careful was I when I took my way,
Each trifle under truest bars to thrust,
That to my use it might unused stay
From hands of falsehood, in sure wards of trust!
But thou, to whom my jewels trifles are,
Most worthy comfort, now my greatest grief,
Thou best of dearest, and mine only care,
Art left the prey of every vulgar thief.
Thee have I not lock'd up in any chest,
Save where thou art not, though I feel thou art,
Within the gentle closure of my breast,
From whence at pleasure thou mayst come and part;
And even thence thou wilt be stol'n I fear,
For truth proves thievish for a prize so dear.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Sonnet 48: How careful was I when I took my way” by William Shakespeare — quilloak.com/poems/sonnet-48
Quick facts
- Poem
- Sonnet 48: How careful was I when I took my way
- Poet
- William Shakespeare
- Length
- 14 lines
- Form
- Sonnet
- Themes
- Sad
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).
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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 48: How careful was I when I took my way 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 544598bff93e22f2…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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