Sonnet XI
When among creatures fair of countenanceLove comes enformed in such proud character,So far as other beauty yields to her,So far the breast with fiercer longing pants;I bless the spot, and hour, and circumstance,That wed desire to a thing so high,And say, Glad soul, rejoice, for thou and IOf bliss unpaired are made participants;Hence have come ardent thoughts and waking dreamsThat, feeding Fancy from so sweet a cup,Leave it no lust for gross imaginings.Through her the woman's perfect beauty gleamsThat while it gazes lifts the spirit upTo that high source from which all beauty springs.
Words in this poem
- unpaired a.
- Not paired; not suited or matched.
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XI 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 XI, in Poems (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #617, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seeger-poems/sonnet-xi.html, id L12944.
Form and metre
Sonnet XI is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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 A--BACCBDEFDEF countenanceA · character · her · pantsB · circumstanceA · highC · iC · participantsB · dreamsD · cupE · imaginingsF · gleamsD · upE · springsF
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 among creatures fair of countenance | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Love comes enformed in such proud character, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| So far as other beauty yields to her, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| So far the breast with fiercer longing pants; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| I bless the spot, and hour, and circumstance, | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| That wed desire to a thing so high, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And say, Glad soul, rejoice, for thou and I | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Of bliss unpaired are made participants; | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Hence have come ardent thoughts and waking dreams | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That, feeding Fancy from so sweet a cup, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Leave it no lust for gross imaginings. | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Through her the woman's perfect beauty gleams | 10 | ···/˘/·/˘· |
| That while it gazes lifts the spirit up | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To that high source from which all beauty springs. | 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.