The 14-line poem is divided into three quatrains (four-line stanzas) and a concluding couplet. The lyric sonnet follows the classic abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme and is written largely in iambic pentameter, with five pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables per line. A great example of the use of regular iambic pentameter is Line 13: “And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand.” However, one of the most interesting features of the poem is that Shakespeare regularly switches out the iamb (daDUM) for other meters. For instance, he sometimes begins lines with an inverted iamb, or a trochee, where a stressed syllable leads to an unstressed one. This can be seen, among other instances, in Line 6, which begins with the trochee “Crawls to.” Some critics believe even the opening line can be said to begin with a trochee, with the stress on “Like,” though others scan the line as “Like as.”

These changes in meter not only keep the rhyme from becoming monotonous, but they also embody the themes and image of the line.