A Sonnet
Thine eyes shall see the light of distant skies:Yet, COLE! thy heart shall bear to Europe's strandA living image of thy native land,Such as on thine own glorious canvas lies;Lone lakes--savannas where the bison roves--Rocks rich with summer garlands--solemn streams--Skies, where the desert eagle wheels and screams--Spring bloom and autumn blaze of boundless groves.Fair scenes shall greet thee where thou goest--fair,But different--everywhere the trace of men,Paths, homes, graves, ruins, from the lowest glenTo where life shrinks from the fierce Alpine air,Gaze on them, till the tears shall dim thy sight,But keep that earlier, wilder image bright.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- cole n.
- A plant of the Brassica or Cabbage genus; esp. that form of B. [OE. col, caul, AS. cawl, cawel, fr. L. caulis, the stalk or stem of a plant, esp. a cabbage stalk, cabbage, akin to Gr. Cauliflower, Kale.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Sonnet is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by William Cullen Bryant, Project Gutenberg ebook #16341; 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 Cullen Bryant, A Sonnet, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/a-sonnet-5.html, id L07318.
Form and metre
A Sonnet is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBACDDCEFFEGG. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABBACDDCEFFEGG skiesA · strandB · landB · liesA · rovesC · streamsD · screamsD · grovesC · fairE · menF · glenF · airE · sightG · brightG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thine eyes shall see the light of distant skies: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yet, COLE! thy heart shall bear to Europe's strand | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A living image of thy native land, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Such as on thine own glorious canvas lies; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Lone lakes--savannas where the bison roves-- | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Rocks rich with summer garlands--solemn streams-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Skies, where the desert eagle wheels and screams-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Spring bloom and autumn blaze of boundless groves. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Fair scenes shall greet thee where thou goest--fair, | 9 | ········· |
| But different--everywhere the trace of men, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Paths, homes, graves, ruins, from the lowest glen | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To where life shrinks from the fierce Alpine air, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Gaze on them, till the tears shall dim thy sight, | 10 | ·········· |
| But keep that earlier, wilder image bright. | 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.