Sonnet XXXII
When I have sense of what to sense appears,Sense is sense ere ’tis mine or mine in me is.When I hear, Hearing, ere I do hear, hears.When I see, before me abstract Seeing sees.I am part Soul part I in all I touch—Soul by that part I hold in common with all,And I the spoiled part, that doth make sense suchAs I can err by it and my sense mine call.The rest is wondering what these thoughts may mean,That come to explain and suddenly are gone,Like messengers that mock the message’ mien,Explaining all but the explanation;As if we a ciphered letter’s cipher hitAnd find it in an unknown language writ.
About this text
Sonnet XXXII 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 XXXII, in 35 Sonnets (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19978, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pessoa-35-sonnets/sonnet-xxxii.html, id L23661.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXXII 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 76%).
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 appearsA · isB · hearsA · seesB · touchC · allD · suchC · callD · meanE · goneF · mienE · explanationF · hitG · writG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When I have sense of what to sense appears, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Sense is sense ere ’tis mine or mine in me is. | 11 | ··········· |
| When I hear, Hearing, ere I do hear, hears. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| When I see, before me abstract Seeing sees. | 10 | ······/·/· |
| I am part Soul part I in all I touch— | 10 | ·········· |
| Soul by that part I hold in common with all, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And I the spoiled part, that doth make sense such | 10 | ·········· |
| As I can err by it and my sense mine call. | 11 | ··········· |
| The rest is wondering what these thoughts may mean, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That come to explain and suddenly are gone, | 10 | ···˘/·/˘·· |
| Like messengers that mock the message’ mien, | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Explaining all but the explanation; | 10 | ˘/˘····˘/˘ |
| As if we a ciphered letter’s cipher hit | 10 | ····//˘/˘· |
| And find it in an unknown language writ. | 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.