Sonnet
ME
Charles! my slow heart was only sad, when firstI scanned that face of feeble infancy:For dimly on my thoughtful spirit burstAll I had been, and all my child might be!But when I saw it on its mother's arm,And hanging at her bosom (she the whileBent o'er its features with a tearful smile)Then I was thrilled and melted, and most warmImpressed a father's kiss: and all beguiledOf dark remembrance and presageful fear,I seemed to see an angel-form appear--'Twas even thine, beloved woman mild!So for the mother's sake the child was dear,And dearer was the mother for the child.
Words in this poem
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- tearful a.
- Abounding with tears; weeping; shedding tears; as, tearful eyes.
- presageful a.
- Full of presages; ominous.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Coleridge, Project Gutenberg ebook #8208; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sonnet, in Poems of Coleridge (1796–1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8208, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coleridge-poems/sonnet.html, id L00327.
Form and metre
Sonnet is 15 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 40% 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.
- 2 A-A--BB-CDDCDC firstA · infancy · burstA · be · arm · whileB · smileB · warm · beguiledC · fearD · appearD · mildC · dearD · childC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ME | 1 | · |
| Charles! my slow heart was only sad, when first | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I scanned that face of feeble infancy: | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| For dimly on my thoughtful spirit burst | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/· |
| All I had been, and all my child might be! | 10 | ·········· |
| But when I saw it on its mother's arm, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And hanging at her bosom (she the while | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Bent o'er its features with a tearful smile) | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Then I was thrilled and melted, and most warm | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Impressed a father's kiss: and all beguiled | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| Of dark remembrance and presageful fear, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| I seemed to see an angel-form appear-- | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| 'Twas even thine, beloved woman mild! | 8 | ·/·˘//˘· |
| So for the mother's sake the child was dear, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And dearer was the mother for the child. | 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.