On the Sepulchre of Christ
Here bend in boundless wonder; bow your head:Think how God's deathless Mind, that men might beRobed in celestial immortality(O Love divine!), in flesh was raimented:How He was killed and buried; from the deadHow He arose to life with victory,And reigned in heaven; how all of us shall beGlorious like Him whose hearts to His are wed:How they who die for love of reason, giveHypocrites, tyrants, sophists--all who sellTheir neighbours ill for holiness--to hell:How the dead saint condemns the bad who live;How all he does becomes a law for men;How he at last to judge shall come again!
Words in this poem
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- 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,]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Sepulchre of Christ is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, the John Addington Symonds translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Michelangelo Buonarroti, On the Sepulchre of Christ, in Sonnets (1878), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/michelangelo-sonnets/on-the-sepulchre-of-christ.html, id L15238.
Form and metre
On the Sepulchre of Christ is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% 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 AB--A-BACDDCEE headA · beB · immortality · raimented · deadA · victory · beB · wedA · giveC · sellD · hellD · liveC · menE · againE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Here bend in boundless wonder; bow your head: | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Think how God's deathless Mind, that men might be | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Robed in celestial immortality | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| (O Love divine!), in flesh was raimented: | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| How He was killed and buried; from the dead | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| How He arose to life with victory, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘˘ |
| And reigned in heaven; how all of us shall be | 10 | ···/······ |
| Glorious like Him whose hearts to His are wed: | 10 | /˘········ |
| How they who die for love of reason, give | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Hypocrites, tyrants, sophists--all who sell | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Their neighbours ill for holiness--to hell: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| How the dead saint condemns the bad who live; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| How all he does becomes a law for men; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| How he at last to judge shall come again! | 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.