A Sonnet
They talk of short-lived pleasure--be it so--Pain dies as quickly: stern, hard-featured painExpires, and lets her weary prisoner go.The fiercest agonies have shortest reign;And after dreams of horror, comes againThe welcome morning with its rays of peace;Oblivion, softly wiping out the stain,Makes the strong secret pangs of shame to cease:Remorse is virtue's root; its fair increaseAre fruits of innocence and blessedness:Thus joy, o'erborne and bound, doth still releaseHis young limbs from the chains that round him press.Weep not that the world changes--did it keepA stable, changeless state, 'twere cause indeed to weep.
Words in this poem
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
- blessedness n.
- The state of being blessed; happiness; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God.
- changeless a.
- That can not be changed; constant; as, a changeless purpose.
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.html, id L18539.
Form and metre
A Sonnet is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABBCBCCCCCDD. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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 ABABBCBCCCCCDD soA · painB · goA · reignB · againB · peaceC · stainB · ceaseC · increaseC · blessednessC · releaseC · pressC · keepD · weepD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| They talk of short-lived pleasure--be it so-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Pain dies as quickly: stern, hard-featured pain | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Expires, and lets her weary prisoner go. | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
| The fiercest agonies have shortest reign; | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| And after dreams of horror, comes again | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The welcome morning with its rays of peace; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Oblivion, softly wiping out the stain, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Makes the strong secret pangs of shame to cease: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Remorse is virtue's root; its fair increase | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| Are fruits of innocence and blessedness: | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Thus joy, o'erborne and bound, doth still release | 10 | ········˘/ |
| His young limbs from the chains that round him press. | 10 | ·········· |
| Weep not that the world changes--did it keep | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A stable, changeless state, 'twere cause indeed to weep. | 12 | ·/˘/˘···˘/·· |
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.