Sonnet 71: Forget Me When I’m Gone? Sonnet 71 by William Shakespeare is not one of his most known, but Mark Van Doren said it to be, “one of the perfect English poems, though it is not among the mighty ones.” Although the meaning of this poem may be deep and twisting, its form is very simple. It’s obviously a Shakespearean sonnet. It contains three quatrains and a couplet. The rhyme is alternating in form (ABABCDCDEFEFGG). As most of Shakespeare’s sonnets, Sonnet 71 is also written in iambic pentameter. As I said, the form is very generic. The poet is not distinguished as a man or woman, and neither is