Sonnet XXX
I do not know what truth the false untruthOf this sad sense of the seen world may own,Or if this flowered plant bears also a fruitUnto the true reality unknown.But as the rainbow, neither earth’s nor sky’s,Stands in the dripping freshness of lulled rain,A hope, not real yet not fancy’s, liesAthwart the moment of our ceasing pain.Somehow, since pain is felt yet felt as ill,Hope hath a better warrant than being hoped;Since pain is felt as aught we should not feelMan hath a Nature’s reason for having groped,Since Time was Time and age and grief his measures,Towards a better shelter than Time’s pleasures.
Words in this poem
- untruth n.
- The quality of being untrue; contrariety to truth; want of veracity; also, treachery; faithlessness; disloyalty.
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XXX 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 XXX, in 35 Sonnets (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19978, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pessoa-35-sonnets/sonnet-xxx.html, id L23659.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXX 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 83%).
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 untruthA · ownB · fruitA · unknownB · sky'sC · rainD · liesC · painD · illE · hopedF · feelE · gropedF · measuresG · pleasuresG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I do not know what truth the false untruth | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Of this sad sense of the seen world may own, | 10 | ·········· |
| Or if this flowered plant bears also a fruit | 10 | ···/··/˘·· |
| Unto the true reality unknown. | 10 | ····˘/˘˘˘/ |
| But as the rainbow, neither earth’s nor sky’s, | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Stands in the dripping freshness of lulled rain, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| A hope, not real yet not fancy’s, lies | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Athwart the moment of our ceasing pain. | 10 | ˘/·/˘·//˘· |
| Somehow, since pain is felt yet felt as ill, | 10 | /········· |
| Hope hath a better warrant than being hoped; | 10 | ···/˘/˘·/· |
| Since pain is felt as aught we should not feel | 10 | ·········· |
| Man hath a Nature’s reason for having groped, | 11 | ···/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Since Time was Time and age and grief his measures, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Towards a better shelter than Time’s pleasures. | 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.