Influence of Time on Grief
O Time! who know'st a lenient hand to laySoftest on Sorrow's wound, and slowly thence(Lulling to sad repose the weary sense)The faint pang stealest unperceived away;On thee I rest my only hope at last,And think, when thou hast dried the bitter tearThat flows in vain o'er all my soul held dear,I may look back on every sorrow past,And meet life's peaceful evening with a smile:--As some lone bird, at day's departing hour,Sings in the sunbeam, of the transient showerForgetful, though its wings are wet the while:--Yet ah! how much must that poor heart endure,Which hopes from thee, and thee alone, a cure!
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- forgetful a.
- Apt to forget; easily losing remembrance; as, a forgetful man should use helps to strengthen his memory.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Influence of Time on Grief is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 1 With Memoir, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by George Gilfillan, Project Gutenberg ebook #18915; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Lisle Bowles, Influence of Time on Grief, in Sonnets, and Other Poems (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/influence-of-time-on-grief.html, id L09886.
Form and metre
Influence of Time on Grief is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCDEFEFGG layA · thenceB · senseA · awayB · lastC · tearD · dearC · pastD · smileE · hourF · showerE · whileF · endureG · cureG
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O Time! who know'st a lenient hand to lay | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Softest on Sorrow's wound, and slowly thence | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| (Lulling to sad repose the weary sense) | 10 | /˘··˘/·/˘· |
| The faint pang stealest unperceived away; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| On thee I rest my only hope at last, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And think, when thou hast dried the bitter tear | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That flows in vain o'er all my soul held dear, | 10 | ·········· |
| I may look back on every sorrow past, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And meet life's peaceful evening with a smile:-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| As some lone bird, at day's departing hour, | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| Sings in the sunbeam, of the transient shower | 11 | ···/···/˘/˘ |
| Forgetful, though its wings are wet the while:-- | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Yet ah! how much must that poor heart endure, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Which hopes from thee, and thee alone, a cure! | 10 | ······˘/·· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.