Sonnet on Hearing the Sounds of an Æolian Harp
So ravishingly soft upon the tideOf the infuriate gust, it did career,It might have soothed its rugged charioteer,And sunk him to a zephyr; then it died,Melting in melody;--and I descried,Borne to some wizard stream, the form appearOf Druid sage, who on the far-off earPour'd his lone song, to which the surge replied:Or thought I heard the hapless pilgrim's knell,Lost in some wild enchanted forest's bounds,By unseen beings sung; or are these soundsSuch as, 'tis said, at night are known to swellBy startled shepherd on the lonely heath,Keeping his night-watch sad, portending death?
Words in this poem
- ravishingly adv.
- In a ravishing manner.
- infuriate a.
- Enraged; rading; furiously angry; infuriated. [It. infuriato, p. p. of infuriare. See Infuriate, v. t.]
- career n.
- A race course: the ground run over. [F. carrière race course, high road, street, fr. L. carrus wagon. See Car.]
- charioteer n.
- One who drives a chariot.
- zephyr n.
- The west wind; poetically, any soft, gentle breeze. [L. zephyrus, Gr. zéphyr.]
- druid n.
- One of an order of priests which in ancient times existed among certain branches of the Celtic race, especially among the Gauls and Britons. [L. Druides; of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. draoi, druidh, magician, Druid, W. derwydd Druid.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet on Hearing the Sounds of an Æolian Harp is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White : With a Memoir by Sir Harris Nicolas, Project Gutenberg ebook #7149; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Kirke White, Sonnet on Hearing the Sounds of an Æolian Harp, in The Poetical Works of Henry Kirke White (1803–1806), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7149, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kirke-white-poems/sonnet-on-hearing-the-sounds-of-an-olian-harp.html, id L10122.
Form and metre
Sonnet on Hearing the Sounds of an Æolian Harp is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ABBAABBACDDC-- tideA · careerB · charioteerB · diedA · descriedA · appearB · earB · repliedA · knellC · boundsD · soundsD · swellC · heath · death
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 |
|---|---|---|
| So ravishingly soft upon the tide | 10 | ·/˘˘˘····· |
| Of the infuriate gust, it did career, | 11 | ··˘/˘····˘/ |
| It might have soothed its rugged charioteer, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And sunk him to a zephyr; then it died, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Melting in melody;--and I descried, | 9 | /˘·/˘˘··· |
| Borne to some wizard stream, the form appear | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Of Druid sage, who on the far-off ear | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Pour'd his lone song, to which the surge replied: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Or thought I heard the hapless pilgrim's knell, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Lost in some wild enchanted forest's bounds, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| By unseen beings sung; or are these sounds | 10 | ·˘//˘····· |
| Such as, 'tis said, at night are known to swell | 10 | ·········· |
| By startled shepherd on the lonely heath, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Keeping his night-watch sad, portending death? | 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.