Sonnet 186
Those eyes, whence Love diffused his purest light,Proud in such beaming orbs his reign to show;That face, with tints of mingling lustre bright,Where the rose mantled o’er the living snow;The rich redundance of that golden hair,Brighter than sunbeams of meridian day;That form so graceful, and that hand so fair,Where now those treasures?--mouldering into clay!Thus, like some blossom prematurely torn,Hath young Perfection wither’d in its morn,Touch’d by the hand that gathers but to blight?Oh, how could Love survive his bitter tears!Shed, not for her, who mounts to happier spheres,But for his own sad fate, thus wrapt in starless night!
Words in this poem
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- redundance n.
- The quality or state of being redundant; superfluity; superabundance; excess. [L. redundantia: cf. F. redondance.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- starless a.
- Being without stars; having no stars visible; as, a starless night.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 186 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 186, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/sonnet-186.html, id L13435.
Form and metre
Sonnet 186 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEEAFFA. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables.
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 ABABCDCDEEAFFA lightA · showB · brightA · snowB · hairC · dayD · fairC · clayD · tornE · mornE · blightA · tearsF · spheresF · nightA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Those eyes, whence Love diffused his purest light, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Proud in such beaming orbs his reign to show; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That face, with tints of mingling lustre bright, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Where the rose mantled o’er the living snow; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The rich redundance of that golden hair, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Brighter than sunbeams of meridian day; | 10 | /·/··˘/˘˘· |
| That form so graceful, and that hand so fair, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Where now those treasures?--mouldering into clay! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Thus, like some blossom prematurely torn, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Hath young Perfection wither’d in its morn, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Touch’d by the hand that gathers but to blight? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Oh, how could Love survive his bitter tears! | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Shed, not for her, who mounts to happier spheres, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But for his own sad fate, thus wrapt in starless night! | 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.