Sonnet—To One Poem in a Silent Time
Who looked for thee, thou little song of mine?This winter of a silent poet's heartIs suddenly sweet with thee, but what thou art,Mid-winter flower, I would I could divine.
Art thou a last one, orphan of thy line?Did the dead summer's last warmth foster thee?Or is Spring folded up unguessed in me,And stirring out of sight,--and thou the sign?
Where shall I look--backwards or to the morrowFor others of thy fragrance, secret child?Who knows if last things or if first things claim thee?
--Whether thou be the last smile of my sorrow,Or else a joy too sweet, a joy too wild?How, my December violet, shall I name thee?
Words in this poem
- 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
Sonnet—To One Poem in a Silent Time is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1186; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alice Meynell, Sonnet—To One Poem in a Silent Time, in Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1186, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/meynell-poems/sonnet-to-one-poem-in-a-silent-time.html, id L12878.
Form and metre
Sonnet—To One Poem in a Silent Time is 14 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABBA mineA · heartB · artB · divineA
- 2 ACCA lineA · theeC · meC · signA
- 3 DEC morrowD · childE · theeC
- 4 DE- sorrowD · wildE · thee
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Who looked for thee, thou little song of mine? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| This winter of a silent poet's heart | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Is suddenly sweet with thee, but what thou art, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Mid-winter flower, I would I could divine. | 10 | ·/˘/····˘/ |
| Art thou a last one, orphan of thy line? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Did the dead summer's last warmth foster thee? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Or is Spring folded up unguessed in me, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And stirring out of sight,--and thou the sign? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Where shall I look--backwards or to the morrow | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| For others of thy fragrance, secret child? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Who knows if last things or if first things claim thee? | 11 | ··········· |
| --Whether thou be the last smile of my sorrow, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Or else a joy too sweet, a joy too wild? | 10 | ·········· |
| How, my December violet, shall I name thee? | 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.