Sonnet VII
To me, a pilgrim on that journey boundWhose stations Beauty's bright examples are,As of a silken city famed afarOver the sands for wealth and holy ground,Came the report of one--a woman crownedWith all perfection, blemishless and high,As the full moon amid the moonlit sky,With the world's praise and wonder clad around.And I who held this notion of success:To leave no form of Nature's lovelinessUnworshipped, if glad eyes have access there, --Beyond all earthly bounds have made my goalTo find where that sweet shrine is and extolThe hand that triumphed in a work so fair.
Words in this poem
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- blemishless a.
- Without blemish; spotless.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- moonlit a.
- Illumined by the moon.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- extol v. t.
- To place on high; to lift up; to elevate. [L. extollere; ex out + tollere to lift, take up, or raise: cf. OF. extoller. See Tollerate, and cf. Flate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet VII is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #617; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alan Seeger, Sonnet VII, in Poems (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #617, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seeger-poems/sonnet-vii.html, id L12940.
Form and metre
Sonnet VII is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ABBAACCADDEFFE boundA · areB · afarB · groundA · crownedA · highC · skyC · aroundA · successD · lovelinessD · thereE · goalF · extolF · fairE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To me, a pilgrim on that journey bound | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Whose stations Beauty's bright examples are, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| As of a silken city famed afar | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Over the sands for wealth and holy ground, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Came the report of one--a woman crowned | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| With all perfection, blemishless and high, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| As the full moon amid the moonlit sky, | 10 | ····˘/·/·· |
| With the world's praise and wonder clad around. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And I who held this notion of success: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To leave no form of Nature's loveliness | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Unworshipped, if glad eyes have access there, -- | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Beyond all earthly bounds have made my goal | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To find where that sweet shrine is and extol | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The hand that triumphed in a work so fair. | 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.