On a Lock of Miss Sarah Seward's Hair Who Died in Her Twentieth Year
My Angel Sister, tho' thy lovely formPerish'd in Youth's gay morning, yet is mineThis precious Ringlet!--still the soft hairs shine,Still glow the nut-brown tints, all bright and warmWith sunny gleam!--Alas! each kindred charmVanish'd long since; deep in the silent shrineWither'd to shapeless Dust!--and of their graceMemory alone retains the faithful trace.--Dear Lock, had thy sweet Owner liv'd, ere nowTime on her brow had faded thee!--My careScreen'd from the sun and dew thy golden glow;And thus her early beauty dost thou wear,Thou all of that fair Frame my love cou'd saveFrom the resistless ravage of the GRAVE!
Words in this poem
- ringlet n.
- A small ring; a small circle; specifically, a fairy ring. [Ring + -let.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- resistless a.
- Having no power to resist; making no opposition.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On a Lock of Miss Sarah Seward's Hair Who Died in Her Twentieth Year 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, On a Lock of Miss Sarah Seward's Hair Who Died in Her Twentieth Year, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/on-a-lock-of-miss-sarah-seward-s-hair-who-died-in-her-twenti.html, id L09814.
Form and metre
On a Lock of Miss Sarah Seward's Hair Who Died in Her Twentieth Year is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 64% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG formA · mineB · shineA · warmB · charmC · shrineD · graceC · traceD · nowE · careF · glowE · wearF · saveG · graveG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My Angel Sister, tho' thy lovely form | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Perish'd in Youth's gay morning, yet is mine | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| This precious Ringlet!--still the soft hairs shine, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Still glow the nut-brown tints, all bright and warm | 10 | ·········· |
| With sunny gleam!--Alas! each kindred charm | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Vanish'd long since; deep in the silent shrine | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Wither'd to shapeless Dust!--and of their grace | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Memory alone retains the faithful trace.-- | 10 | /˘˘/˘/·/˘· |
| Dear Lock, had thy sweet Owner liv'd, ere now | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Time on her brow had faded thee!--My care | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Screen'd from the sun and dew thy golden glow; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And thus her early beauty dost thou wear, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Thou all of that fair Frame my love cou'd save | 10 | ·········· |
| From the resistless ravage of the GRAVE! | 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.