Sonnet 133
Waves of Mondego! brilliant and serene,Haunts of my thought, where memory fondly strays,Where hope allured me with perfidious mien,Witching my soul, in long-departed days;Yes, I forsake your banks! but still my heartShall bid remembrance all your charms restore,And, suffering not one image to depart,Find lengthening distance but endear you more.Let Fortune’s will, through many a future day,To distant realms this mortal frame convey,Sport of each wind, and tost on every wave;Yet my fond soul, to pensive memory true,On thought’s light pinion still shall fly to you,And still, bright waters! in your current lave.
Words in this poem
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
- witching a.
- That witches or enchants; suited to enchantment or witchcraft; bewitching.
- 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,]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- endear v. t.
- To make dear or beloved.
- pinion n.
- A moth of the genus Lithophane, as L. antennata, whose larva bores large holes in young peaches and apples.
- lave v. t.
- To lade, dip, or pour out. [OE. laven. See Lavish.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 133 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, Sonnet 133, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/sonnet-133.html, id L13445.
Form and metre
Sonnet 133 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEEFGGF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 7% 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 ABABCDCDEEFGGF sereneA · straysB · mienA · daysB · heartC · restoreD · departC · moreD · dayE · conveyE · waveF · trueG · youG · laveF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Waves of Mondego! brilliant and serene, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Haunts of my thought, where memory fondly strays, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Where hope allured me with perfidious mien, | 11 | ··˘/··˘/˘˘· |
| Witching my soul, in long-departed days; | 10 | /˘····˘/˘· |
| Yes, I forsake your banks! but still my heart | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Shall bid remembrance all your charms restore, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| And, suffering not one image to depart, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Find lengthening distance but endear you more. | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Let Fortune’s will, through many a future day, | 10 | ·/˘··/·/˘· |
| To distant realms this mortal frame convey, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Sport of each wind, and tost on every wave; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yet my fond soul, to pensive memory true, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| On thought’s light pinion still shall fly to you, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And still, bright waters! in your current lave. | 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.