Sonnet · Hope
Sonnet 52: So am I as the rich, whose blessed key
1So am I as the rich, whose blessed key,
2Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure,
3The which he will not every hour survey,
4For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure.
5Therefore are feasts so solemn and so rare,
6Since, seldom coming in that long year set,
7Like stones of worth they thinly placed are,
8Or captain jewels in the carcanet.
9So is the time that keeps you as my chest,
10Or as the wardrobe which the robe doth hide,
11To make some special instant special-blest,
12By new unfolding his imprison'd pride.
13 Blessed are you whose worthiness gives scope,
14 Being had, to triumph; being lacked, to hope.
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“Sonnet 52: So am I as the rich, whose blessed key” by William Shakespeare — quilloak.com/poems/sonnet-52
Quick facts
- Poem
- Sonnet 52: So am I as the rich, whose blessed key
- Poet
- William Shakespeare
- Length
- 14 lines
- Form
- Sonnet
- Themes
- Hope
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 9-11 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 52: So am I as the rich, whose blessed key 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 fc465068c0da6c24…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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