Sentence:  [T]he Shakespearean sonnet doesn't lend itself to a sequential narrative, because the rhymed couplet, without its paired feet trembling at that <WSD>abysm</WSD> of time, has to settle instead for the sound of sighing resolution, at regular intervals, over and over, before taking a deep breath and returning usually, for better or worse, to the same subject. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An abyss; a gulf, a chasm, a very deep hole. (from late 15th century)<ref name=SOED/>