Sonnet 178
Oft have I sung and mourn’d the bitter woesWhich love for years hath mingled with my fate,While he the tale forbade me to disclose,That taught his votaries their deluded state.Nymphs! who dispense Castalia’s living stream,Ye, who from Death oblivion’s mantle steal,Grant me a strain in powerful tone supreme,Each grief by love inflicted to reveal:That those whose ardent hearts adore his sway,May hear experience breathe a warning lay--How false his smiles, his promises how vain!Then, if ye deign this effort to inspire,When the sad task is o’er, my plaintive lyre,For ever hush’d, shall slumber in your fane.
Words in this poem
- dispense v. i.
- To compensate; to make up; to make amends.
- 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.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- deign v. t.
- To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice; -- opposed to disdain. [OE. deinen, deignen, OF. degner, deigner, daigner, F. daigner, fr. L. dignari to deem worthy, deign, fr. dignus worthy; akin to decere to be fitting. See Decent]
- 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,]
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 178 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 178, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/sonnet-178.html, id L13440.
Form and metre
Sonnet 178 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEEFGGF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 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 woesA · fateB · discloseA · stateB · streamC · stealD · supremeC · revealD · swayE · layE · vainF · inspireG · lyreG · faneF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oft have I sung and mourn’d the bitter woes | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Which love for years hath mingled with my fate, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| While he the tale forbade me to disclose, | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| That taught his votaries their deluded state. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Nymphs! who dispense Castalia’s living stream, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Ye, who from Death oblivion’s mantle steal, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Grant me a strain in powerful tone supreme, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Each grief by love inflicted to reveal: | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| That those whose ardent hearts adore his sway, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| May hear experience breathe a warning lay-- | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| How false his smiles, his promises how vain! | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Then, if ye deign this effort to inspire, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| When the sad task is o’er, my plaintive lyre, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For ever hush’d, shall slumber in your fane. | 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.