Sonnet XII
As the lone, frighted user of a night-roadSuddenly turns round, nothing to detect,Yet on his fear’s sense keepeth still the loadOf that brink-nothing he doth but suspect;And the cold terror moves to him more nearOf something that from nothing casts a spell,That, when he moves, to fright more is not there,And’s only visible when invisibleSo I upon the world turn round in thought,And nothing viewing do no courage take,But my more terror, from no seen cause got,To that felt corporate emptiness forsake,And draw my sense of mystery’s horror fromSeeing no mystery’s mystery alone.
Words in this poem
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XII 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 XII, in 35 Sonnets (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19978, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pessoa-35-sonnets/sonnet-xii.html, id L23641.
Form and metre
Sonnet XII 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 78%).
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 roadA · detectB · loadA · suspectB · nearC · spellD · thereC · invisibleD · thoughtE · takeF · gotE · forsakeF · fromG · aloneG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As the lone, frighted user of a night-road | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| Suddenly turns round, nothing to detect, | 10 | /˘˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Yet on his fear’s sense keepeth still the load | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of that brink-nothing he doth but suspect; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And the cold terror moves to him more near | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of something that from nothing casts a spell, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| That, when he moves, to fright more is not there, | 10 | ·········· |
| And’s only visible when invisible | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘·˘/˘˘ |
| So I upon the world turn round in thought, | 10 | ·········· |
| And nothing viewing do no courage take, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| But my more terror, from no seen cause got, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To that felt corporate emptiness forsake, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| And draw my sense of mystery’s horror from | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Seeing no mystery’s mystery alone. | 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.