My Mistress' Eyes by Shakespeare
It is said that of all the sonnets that exist, William Shakespeare wrote 154 of them. It is also said that a Shakespearean sonnet consists of 14 lines, each line contains ten syllables, and each line is written in iambic pentameter in which a pattern of a non-emphasized syllable followed by an emphasized syllable is repeated five times. The rhyme scheme in a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, in which the last two lines are a rhyming couplet.
In "My Mistress' Eyes" there is controversy over the amount of syllables in line 13.
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
In the modern American usage of English the word "heaven" would be pronounced with two syllables. Now, in the modern and old english dialogue them term "heaven" is often pronounced as having a single syllable like "heav'n", but this is not the way that "heaven" was written.
And / yet, / by / hea / ven / I / think / my / love / as / rare
OR
And / yet, / by / heav'n / I / think / my / love / as / rare
Could this have been a mistake in the writing of this Shakespearean poem or could the modern interpretation just be a misunderstanding?
What is your opinion?