Introductory Sonnet
A Sonnet is a moment's monument,--Memorial from the Soul's eternityTo one dead deathless hour. Look that it be,Whether for lustral rite or dire portent,Of its own arduous fulness reverent:Carve it in ivory or in ebony,As Day or Night may rule; and let Time seeIts flowering crest impearled and orient.
A Sonnet is a coin: its face revealsThe soul,--its converse, to what Power 'tis due:--Whether for tribute to the august appealsOf Life, or dower in Love's high retinue,It serve; or, 'mid the dark wharf's cavernous breath,In Charon's palm it pay the toll to Death.
Words in this poem
- sonnet n.
- A short poem, -- usually amatory. [F., fr. It. sonetto, fr. suono a sound, a song, fr. L. sonus a sound. See Sound noise.]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- lustral a.
- Of or pertaining to, or used for, purification; as, lustral days; lustral water. [L. lustralis, fr. lustrum: cf. F. lustral. See Lustrum.]
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
- portent n.
- That which portends, or foretoken; esp., that which portends evil; a sign of coming calamity; an omen; a sign. [L. portentum. See Portend.]
- arduous a.
- Steep and lofty, in a literal sense; hard to climb. [L. arduus steep, high; akin to Ir. ard high, height.]
- cavernous a.
- Full of caverns; resembling a cavern or large cavity; hollow. [L. cavernosus: cf. F. caverneux.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Introductory Sonnet is in the public domain. This text is taken from The House of Life, Project Gutenberg ebook #3692; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Introductory Sonnet, in The House of Life (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3692, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-house-of-life/introductory-sonnet.html, id L20919.
Form and metre
Introductory Sonnet is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
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 --ABB-AB monument · eternity · beA · portentB · reverentB · ebony · seeA · orientB
- 2 ABABCC revealsA · dueB · appealsA · retinueB · breathC · deathC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A Sonnet is a moment's monument,-- | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Memorial from the Soul's eternity | 11 | ˘/˘˘···˘/˘˘ |
| To one dead deathless hour. Look that it be, | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Whether for lustral rite or dire portent, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Of its own arduous fulness reverent: | 11 | ···/˘˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Carve it in ivory or in ebony, | 11 | ···/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| As Day or Night may rule; and let Time see | 10 | ·········· |
| Its flowering crest impearled and orient. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A Sonnet is a coin: its face reveals | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| The soul,--its converse, to what Power 'tis due:-- | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Whether for tribute to the august appeals | 11 | ···/˘··/˘˘/ |
| Of Life, or dower in Love's high retinue, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| It serve; or, 'mid the dark wharf's cavernous breath, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In Charon's palm it pay the toll to Death. | 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.