Sonnet 19
Spirit beloved! whose wing so soon hath flownThe joyless precincts of this earthly sphere,How is yon Heaven eternally thine own,Whilst I deplore thy loss, a captive here!Oh! if allow’d in thy divine abodeOf aught on earth an image to retain,Remember still the fervent love which glow’dIn my fond bosom, pure from every stain.And if thou deem’d that all my faithful grief,Caused by thy loss, and hopeless of relief,Can merit thee, sweet native of the skies!Oh! ask of Heaven, which call’d thee soon away,That I may join thee in those realms of day,Swiftly as thou hast vanish’d from mine eyes.
How strange a fate in love is mine!How dearly prized the pains I feel!Pangs, that to rend my soul combine,With avarice I conceal:For did the world the tale divine,My lot would then be deeper woe--And mine is grief that none must know.
To mortal ears I may not dareUnfold the cause, the pain I prove;’Twould plunge in ruin and despairOr me, or her I love.My soul delights alone to bearHer silent, unsuspected woe,And none shall pity, none shall know.
Thus buried in my bosom’s urn,Thus in my inmost heart conceal’d,Let me alone the secret mourn,In pangs unsoothed and unreveal’d.For whether happiness or woe,Or life or death its power bestow,It is what none on earth must know.
Words in this poem
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- joyless a.
- Not having joy; not causing joy; unenjoyable.
- eternally adv.
- In an eternal manner.
- deplore v. t.
- To feel or to express deep and poignant grief for; to bewail; to lament; to mourn; to sorrow over. [L. deplorare; de- + plorare to cry out, wail, lament; prob. akin to pluere to rain, and to E. flow: cf. F. déplorer. Cf. Flow.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- avarice n.
- An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity. [F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. av to covert, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect.]
- 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,]
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 19 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 19, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/sonnet-19.html, id L13438.
Form and metre
Sonnet 19 is 35 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABACC, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 flownA · sphereB · ownA · hereB · abodeC · retainD · glow'dC · stainD · griefE · reliefE · skiesF · awayG · dayG · eyesF
- 2 ABABACC mineA · feelB · combineA · concealB · divineA · woeC · knowC
- 3 ABABACC dareA · proveB · despairA · loveB · bearA · woeC · knowC
- 4 -A-ABBB urn · conceal'dA · mourn · unreveal'dA · woeB · bestowB · knowB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Spirit beloved! whose wing so soon hath flown | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| The joyless precincts of this earthly sphere, | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| How is yon Heaven eternally thine own, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Whilst I deplore thy loss, a captive here! | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Oh! if allow’d in thy divine abode | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘/ |
| Of aught on earth an image to retain, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Remember still the fervent love which glow’d | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| In my fond bosom, pure from every stain. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And if thou deem’d that all my faithful grief, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Caused by thy loss, and hopeless of relief, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Can merit thee, sweet native of the skies! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Oh! ask of Heaven, which call’d thee soon away, | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| That I may join thee in those realms of day, | 10 | ·········· |
| Swiftly as thou hast vanish’d from mine eyes. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| How strange a fate in love is mine! | 8 | ········ |
| How dearly prized the pains I feel! | 9 | ·/˘·˘···· |
| Pangs, that to rend my soul combine, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| With avarice I conceal: | 7 | ·/˘˘·˘/ |
| For did the world the tale divine, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| My lot would then be deeper woe-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And mine is grief that none must know. | 8 | ········ |
| To mortal ears I may not dare | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Unfold the cause, the pain I prove; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| ’Twould plunge in ruin and despair | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Or me, or her I love. | 6 | ······ |
| My soul delights alone to bear | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| Her silent, unsuspected woe, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And none shall pity, none shall know. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thus buried in my bosom’s urn, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thus in my inmost heart conceal’d, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Let me alone the secret mourn, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| In pangs unsoothed and unreveal’d. | 9 | ····˘···· |
| For whether happiness or woe, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Or life or death its power bestow, | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| It is what none on earth must know. | 8 | ········ |
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.