To G. A. W
Nymph of the downward smile, and sidelong glance,In what diviner moments of the dayArt thou most lovely? When gone far astrayInto the labyrinths of sweet utterance?Or when serenely wand'ring in a tranceOf sober thought? Or when starting away,With careless robe, to meet the morning ray,Thou spar'st the flowers in thy mazy dance?Haply 'tis when thy ruby lips part sweetly,And so remain, because thou listenest:But thou to please wert nurtured so completelyThat I can never tell what mood is best.I shall as soon pronounce which grace more neatlyTrips it before Apollo than the rest.
Words in this poem
- sidelong adv.
- Laterally; obliquely; in the direction of the side. [See Sideling, adv.]
- serenely adv.
- In a serene manner; clearly.
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To G. A. W is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems 1817, Project Gutenberg ebook #8209; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Keats, To G. A. W, in Poems (1817) (1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8209, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/keats-1817/to-g-a-w.html, id L00411.
Form and metre
To G. A. W is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDCDCD, the pattern of the Italian sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other Italian 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 ABBAABBACDCDCD glanceA · dayB · astrayB · utteranceA · tranceA · awayB · rayB · danceA · sweetlyC · listenestD · completelyC · bestD · neatlyC · restD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nymph of the downward smile, and sidelong glance, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In what diviner moments of the day | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Art thou most lovely? When gone far astray | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Into the labyrinths of sweet utterance? | 11 | ···/˘···/˘˘ |
| Or when serenely wand'ring in a trance | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Of sober thought? Or when starting away, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘˘/ |
| With careless robe, to meet the morning ray, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Thou spar'st the flowers in thy mazy dance? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Haply 'tis when thy ruby lips part sweetly, | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
| And so remain, because thou listenest: | 10 | ··˘/···/˘˘ |
| But thou to please wert nurtured so completely | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| That I can never tell what mood is best. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I shall as soon pronounce which grace more neatly | 11 | ····˘/···/˘ |
| Trips it before Apollo than the rest. | 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.