Sonnet XLIV
All is not right with him, who ill sustainsRetirement's silent hours.--Himself he flies,Perchance from that insipid equipoise,Which always with the hapless mind remainsThat feels no native bias; never gainsOne energy of will, that does not riseFrom some external cause, to which he hiesFrom his own blank inanity.--When reigns,With a strong, cultur'd mind, this wretched hateTo commune with himself, from thought that tellsOf some lost joy, or dreaded stroke of FateHe struggles to escape;--or sense that dwellsOn secret guilt towards God, or Man, with weightThrice dire, the self-exiling flight impels.
Words in this poem
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- inanity n.
- Inanition; void space; vacuity; emptiness. [L. inanitas, fr. inanis empty: cf. F. inanité. See Inane.]
- commune n.
- The commonalty; the common people. [F., fr. commun. See Common.]
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XLIV 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, Sonnet XLIV, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/sonnet-xliv.html, id L20498.
Form and metre
Sonnet XLIV 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 89%).
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 sustainsA · fliesB · equipoiseA · remainsB · gainsC · riseD · hiesC · reignsD · hateE · tellsF · fateE · dwellsF · weightG · impelsG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| All is not right with him, who ill sustains | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Retirement's silent hours.--Himself he flies, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘/·· |
| Perchance from that insipid equipoise, | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Which always with the hapless mind remains | 10 | ·/···/˘·˘/ |
| That feels no native bias; never gains | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| One energy of will, that does not rise | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| From some external cause, to which he hies | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| From his own blank inanity.--When reigns, | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| With a strong, cultur'd mind, this wretched hate | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To commune with himself, from thought that tells | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Of some lost joy, or dreaded stroke of Fate | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| He struggles to escape;--or sense that dwells | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| On secret guilt towards God, or Man, with weight | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Thrice dire, the self-exiling flight impels. | 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.