Book II
Not always, dear Licinius, is it wiseOn the main Sea to ply the daring Oar;Nor is it safe, from dread of angry Skies,Closely to press on the insidious Shore.To no excess discerning Spirits lean,They feel the blessings of the golden mean;They will not grovel in the squalid cell,Nor seek in princely domes, with envied pomp, to dwell.
The pine, that lifts so high her stately boughs,Writhes in the storms, and bends beneath their might,Innoxious while the loudest tempest blowsO'er trees, that boast a less-aspiring height.As the wild fury of the whirlwind pours,With direst ruin fall the loftiest towers;And 't is the mountain's summit that, oblique,From the dense, lurid clouds, the baleful lightnings strike.
A mind well disciplin'd, when Sorrow lours,Not sullenly excludes Hope's smiling rays;Nor, when soft Pleasure boasts of lasting powers,With boundless trust the Promiser surveys.It is the same dread Jove, who thro' the skyHurls the loud storms, that darken as they fly;And whose benignant hand withdraws the gloom,And spreads rekindling light, in all its living bloom.
To-day the Soul perceives a weight of woe;--A brighter Morrow shall gay thoughts inspire.Does Phœbus always bend the vengeful bow?Wakes he not often the harmonious lyre?Be thou, when Danger scowls in every wave,Watchful, collected, spirited, and brave;But in the sunny sky, the flattering gales,Contract, with steady hand, thy too expanded sails.
Words in this poem 15
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- insidious a.
- Lying in wait; watching an opportunity to insnare or entrap; deceitful; sly; treacherous; -- said of persons; as, the insidious foe. [L. insidiosus, fr. insidiae an ambush, fr. insidere to sit in; pref. in- + sedere to sit: cf. F. insidieux. See Sit.]
- grovel v. i.
- To creep on the earth, or with the face to the ground; to lie prone, or move uneasily with the body prostrate on the earth; to lie fiat on one's belly, expressive of abjectness; to crawl. [From OE. grovelinge, grufelinge, adv., on the face, prone, which was misunderstood as a p. pr.; cf. OE. gruf, groff, in the same sense; of Scand. origin, cf. Ic]
- squalid a.
- Dirty through neglect; foul; filthy; extremely dirty. [L. squalidus, fr. squalere to be foul or filthy.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- innoxious a.
- Free from hurtful qualities or effects; harmless. [L. innoxius. See In- not, and Noxious.]
- aspiring a.
- That aspires; as, an Aspiring mind.
- lurid a.
- Pale yellow; ghastly pale; wan; gloomy; dismal. [L. luridus.]
- promiser n.
- One who promises.
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- benignant a.
- Kind; gracious; favorable. [LL. benignans, p. pr. of benignare, from L. benignus. See Benign.]
- 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,]
- vengeful a.
- Vindictive; retributive; revengeful.
- spirited a.
- Animated or possessed by a spirit.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Original sonnets on various subjects; and odes paraphrased from Horace, Project Gutenberg ebook #27663; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anna Seward, Book II, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/book-ii.html, id L09835.
Form and metre
Book II is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCDD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% 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 ABABCCDD wiseA · oarB · skiesA · shoreB · leanC · meanC · cellD · dwellD
- 2 -ABA-B-- boughs · mightA · blowsB · heightA · pours · towersB · oblique · strike
- 3 -AAABBCC lours · raysA · powersA · surveysA · skyB · flyB · gloomC · bloomC
- 4 ABABCCDD woeA · inspireB · bowA · lyreB · waveC · braveC · galesD · sailsD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Not always, dear Licinius, is it wise | 10 | ·/········ |
| On the main Sea to ply the daring Oar; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Nor is it safe, from dread of angry Skies, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Closely to press on the insidious Shore. | 10 | /˘····˘/˘· |
| To no excess discerning Spirits lean, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| They feel the blessings of the golden mean; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| They will not grovel in the squalid cell, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Nor seek in princely domes, with envied pomp, to dwell. | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| The pine, that lifts so high her stately boughs, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Writhes in the storms, and bends beneath their might, | 10 | ·········· |
| Innoxious while the loudest tempest blows | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| O'er trees, that boast a less-aspiring height. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| As the wild fury of the whirlwind pours, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| With direst ruin fall the loftiest towers; | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| And 't is the mountain's summit that, oblique, | 11 | ····/˘/˘·˘/ |
| From the dense, lurid clouds, the baleful lightnings strike. | 12 | ···/˘··/˘/˘· |
| A mind well disciplin'd, when Sorrow lours, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Not sullenly excludes Hope's smiling rays; | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Nor, when soft Pleasure boasts of lasting powers, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| With boundless trust the Promiser surveys. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| It is the same dread Jove, who thro' the sky | 10 | ·········· |
| Hurls the loud storms, that darken as they fly; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And whose benignant hand withdraws the gloom, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| And spreads rekindling light, in all its living bloom. | 12 | ··˘/˘····/˘· |
| To-day the Soul perceives a weight of woe;-- | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| A brighter Morrow shall gay thoughts inspire. | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Does Phœbus always bend the vengeful bow? | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Wakes he not often the harmonious lyre? | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Be thou, when Danger scowls in every wave, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Watchful, collected, spirited, and brave; | 10 | /˘˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| But in the sunny sky, the flattering gales, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Contract, with steady hand, thy too expanded sails. | 12 | ˘/·/˘···˘/˘· |
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.