Sonnet: Written at the Age of Thirteen
I love to hail the mild and balmy hourWhen evening spreads around her twilight veil.When dews descend on every languid flower,And sweet and tranquil is the summer gale.Then let me wander by the peaceful tide,While o’er the wave the breezes lightly play;To hear the waters murmur as they glide,To mark the fading smile of closing day.There let me linger, blest in visions dear,Till the soft moonbeams tremble on the seas;While melting sounds decay on fancy’s ear,Of airy music floating on the breeze.For still when evening sheds the genial dews,That pensive hour is sacred to the muse.
Words in this poem
- balmy a.
- Having the qualities of balm; odoriferous; aromatic; assuaging; soothing; refreshing; mild.
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet: Written at the Age of Thirteen 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: Written at the Age of Thirteen, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/sonnet-written-at-the-age-of-thirteen-2.html, id L13417.
Form and metre
Sonnet: Written at the Age of Thirteen is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 97%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG hourA · veilB · flowerA · galeB · tideC · playD · glideC · dayD · dearE · seasF · earE · breezeF · dewsG · museG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I love to hail the mild and balmy hour | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| When evening spreads around her twilight veil. | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| When dews descend on every languid flower, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘/˘/˘ |
| And sweet and tranquil is the summer gale. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Then let me wander by the peaceful tide, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| While o’er the wave the breezes lightly play; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| To hear the waters murmur as they glide, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To mark the fading smile of closing day. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| There let me linger, blest in visions dear, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Till the soft moonbeams tremble on the seas; | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| While melting sounds decay on fancy’s ear, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Of airy music floating on the breeze. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| For still when evening sheds the genial dews, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That pensive hour is sacred to the muse. | 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.