Sonnet
O Earth, lie heavily upon her eyes;Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth;Lie close around her; leave no room for mirthWith its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs.She hath no questions, she hath no replies,Hushed in and curtained with a blessed dearthOf all that irked her from the hour of birth;With stillness that is almost Paradise.Darkness more clear than noon-day holdeth her,Silence more musical than any song;Even her very heart has ceased to stir:Until the morning of EternityHer rest shall not begin nor end, but be;And when she wakes she will not think it long.
Words in this poem
- dearth n.
- Scarcity which renders dear; want; lack; specifically, lack of food on account of failure of crops; famine. [OE. derthe, fr. dere. See Dear.]
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet is in the public domain. This text is taken from Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #16950; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Christina Rossetti, Sonnet, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/sonnet-4.html, id L04273.
Form and metre
Sonnet is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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 ABBAABB-CDC--D eyesA · earthB · mirthB · sighsA · repliesA · dearthB · birthB · paradise · herC · songD · stirC · eternity · be · longD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O Earth, lie heavily upon her eyes; | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth; | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Lie close around her; leave no room for mirth | 10 | ·········· |
| With its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| She hath no questions, she hath no replies, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Hushed in and curtained with a blessed dearth | 10 | ·˘··/˘···· |
| Of all that irked her from the hour of birth; | 10 | ·······/·· |
| With stillness that is almost Paradise. | 10 | ·/˘··/·/˘· |
| Darkness more clear than noon-day holdeth her, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Silence more musical than any song; | 10 | /˘·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Even her very heart has ceased to stir: | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Until the morning of Eternity | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| And when she wakes she will not think it long. | 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.