Russian Sonia
I, born in WeimarOf a mother who was FrenchAnd German father, a most learned professor,Orphaned at fourteen years,Became a dancer, known as Russian Sonia,All up and down the boulevards of Paris,Mistress betimes of sundry dukes and counts,And later of poor artists and of poets.At forty years, passée, I sought New YorkAnd met old Patrick Hummer on the boat,Red-faced and hale, though turned his sixtieth year,Returning after having sold a ship-loadOf cattle in the German city, Hamburg.He brought me to Spoon River and we lived hereFor twenty years—they thought that we were marriedThis oak tree near me is the favorite hauntOf blue jays chattering, chattering all the day.And why not? for my very dust is laughingFor thinking of the humorous thing called life.
Words in this poem
- betimes adv.
- In good season or time; before it is late; seasonably; early. [Pref. be- (for by) + time; that is, by the proper time. The -s is an adverbial ending.]
- sundry a.
- Several; divers; more than one or two; various. [OE. sundry, sondry, AS. syndrig, fr. sundor asunder. See Sunder, v. t.]
- hummer n.
- One who, or that which, hums; one who applauds by humming.
- sixtieth a.
- Next in order after the fifty-ninth. [As. sixtiogoedha, sixtigoedha.]
- hamburg n.
- A commercial city of Germany, near the mouth of the Elbe. Black Hamburg grape. See under Black.
- chattering n.
- The act or habit of talking idly or rapidly, or of making inarticulate sounds; the sounds so made; noise made by the collision of the teeth; chatter.
- humorous a.
- Moist; humid; watery. [Cf. L. humorosus, umorosus, moist. See Humor.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Russian Sonia is in the public domain. This text is taken from Spoon River Anthology, Project Gutenberg ebook #1280; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edgar Lee Masters, Russian Sonia, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/russian-sonia.html, id L07816.
Form and metre
Russian Sonia is 19 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 42% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 ----------AB-AB---- weimar · french · professor · years · sonia · paris · counts · poets · york · boat · yearA · loadB · hamburg · hereA · marriedB · haunt · day · laughing · life
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I, born in Weimar | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Of a mother who was French | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And German father, a most learned professor, | 11 | ·/˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| Orphaned at fourteen years, | 6 | /˘··/· |
| Became a dancer, known as Russian Sonia, | 11 | ˘/·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| All up and down the boulevards of Paris, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Mistress betimes of sundry dukes and counts, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| And later of poor artists and of poets. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| At forty years, passée, I sought New York | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| And met old Patrick Hummer on the boat, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Red-faced and hale, though turned his sixtieth year, | 11 | ·······/˘˘· |
| Returning after having sold a ship-load | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘···· |
| Of cattle in the German city, Hamburg. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| He brought me to Spoon River and we lived here | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| For twenty years—they thought that we were married | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| This oak tree near me is the favorite haunt | 11 | ·······/˘˘· |
| Of blue jays chattering, chattering all the day. | 11 | ···/˘/˘˘··· |
| And why not? for my very dust is laughing | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| For thinking of the humorous thing called life. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘··· |
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.