Sonnet IX
Oh to be idle loving idleness!But I am idle all in hate of me;Ever in action’s dream, in the false stressOf purposed action never set to be.Like a fierce beast self-penned in a bait-lair,My will to act binds with excess my action,Not-acting coils the thought with raged despair,And acting rage doth paint despair distraction.Like someone sinking in a treacherous sand,Each gesture to deliver sinks the more;The struggle avails not, and to raise no hand,Though but more slowly useless, we’ve no power.Hence live I the dead life each day doth bring,Repurposed for next day’s repurposing.
Words in this poem
- distraction n.
- The act of distracting; a drawing apart; separation. [L. distractio: cf. F. distraction.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet IX is in the public domain. This text is taken from 35 Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #19978; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Fernando Pessoa, Sonnet IX, in 35 Sonnets (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19978, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pessoa-35-sonnets/sonnet-ix.html, id L23638.
Form and metre
Sonnet IX is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other English 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG idlenessA · meB · stressA · beB · lairC · actionD · despairC · distractionD · sandE · moreF · handE · powerF · bringG · repurposingG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh to be idle loving idleness! | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| But I am idle all in hate of me; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Ever in action’s dream, in the false stress | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Of purposed action never set to be. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Like a fierce beast self-penned in a bait-lair, | 10 | ·········· |
| My will to act binds with excess my action, | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| Not-acting coils the thought with raged despair, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And acting rage doth paint despair distraction. | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘/˘ |
| Like someone sinking in a treacherous sand, | 10 | ·/·/˘··/˘· |
| Each gesture to deliver sinks the more; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| The struggle avails not, and to raise no hand, | 11 | ·/˘˘/······ |
| Though but more slowly useless, we’ve no power. | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Hence live I the dead life each day doth bring, | 10 | ·········· |
| Repurposed for next day’s repurposing. | 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.