Sonnet XV
Above the ruin of God's holy place,Where man-forsaken lay the bleeding rood,Whose hands, when men had craved substantial food,Gave not, nor folded when they cried, Embrace,I saw exalted in the latter daysHer whom west winds with natal foam bedewed,Wafted toward Cyprus, lily-breasted, nude,Standing with arms out-stretched and flower-like face.And, sick with all those centuries of tearsShed in the penance for factitious woe,Once more I saw the nations at her feet,For Love shone in their eyes, and in their earsCome unto me, Love beckoned them, for lo!The breast your lips abjured is still as sweet.
Words in this poem
- rood n.
- A representation in sculpture or in painting of the cross with Christ hanging on it. [AS. rr, D. roede rod, G. ruthe, rute, OHG. ruota. CF. Rod a measure.]
- natal a.
- Of or pertaining to one's birth; accompying or dating from one's birth; native. [L. natalis, fr. natus, p.p. of nasci to be born: cf. F. natal. See Nation, and cf. Noel.]
- cyprus n.
- A thin, transparent stuff, the same as, or corresponding to, crape. It was either white or black, the latter being most common, and used for mourning. [OE. cipres, cypirs; perh. so named as being first manufactured in Cyprus. Cf. Cipers.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XV 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 XV, in Poems (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #617, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seeger-poems/sonnet-xv.html, id L12948.
Form and metre
Sonnet XV is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 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 ABBA-BBACDECDE placeA · roodB · foodB · embraceA · days · bedewedB · nudeB · faceA · tearsC · woeD · feetE · earsC · loD · sweetE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Above the ruin of God's holy place, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Where man-forsaken lay the bleeding rood, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Whose hands, when men had craved substantial food, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Gave not, nor folded when they cried, Embrace, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| I saw exalted in the latter days | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Her whom west winds with natal foam bedewed, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Wafted toward Cyprus, lily-breasted, nude, | 11 | /˘··/˘/˘/˘· |
| Standing with arms out-stretched and flower-like face. | 10 | /˘·····/·· |
| And, sick with all those centuries of tears | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Shed in the penance for factitious woe, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Once more I saw the nations at her feet, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For Love shone in their eyes, and in their ears | 10 | ·········· |
| Come unto me, Love beckoned them, for lo! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The breast your lips abjured is still as sweet. | 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.