Sonnet XLV
On the damp margin of the sea-beat shoreLonely at eve to wander;--or reclin'dBeneath a rock, what time the rising windMourns o'er the waters, and, with solemn roar,Vast billows into caverns surging pour,And back recede alternate; while combin'dLoud shriek the sea-fowls, harbingers assign'd,Clamorous and fearful, of the stormy hour;To listen with deep thought those awful sounds;Gaze on the boiling, the tumultuous waste,Or promontory rude, or craggy moundsStaying the furious main, delight has castO'er my rapt spirit, and my thrilling heart,Dear as the softer joys green vales impart.
Words in this poem
- rapt n.
- An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]
- thrilling a.
- Causing a thrill; causing tremulous excitement; deeply moving; as, a thrilling romance.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XLV 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 XLV, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/sonnet-xlv.html, id L20499.
Form and metre
Sonnet XLV 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 80%).
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 shoreA · reclin'dB · windA · roarB · pourC · combin'dD · assign'dC · hourD · soundsE · wasteF · moundsE · castF · heartG · impartG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| On the damp margin of the sea-beat shore | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Lonely at eve to wander;--or reclin'd | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Beneath a rock, what time the rising wind | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Mourns o'er the waters, and, with solemn roar, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Vast billows into caverns surging pour, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And back recede alternate; while combin'd | 10 | ··˘//˘˘·˘/ |
| Loud shriek the sea-fowls, harbingers assign'd, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Clamorous and fearful, of the stormy hour; | 11 | /˘˘·/˘··/˘/ |
| To listen with deep thought those awful sounds; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Gaze on the boiling, the tumultuous waste, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Or promontory rude, or craggy mounds | 10 | ·/˘˘˘··/˘· |
| Staying the furious main, delight has cast | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/·· |
| O'er my rapt spirit, and my thrilling heart, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Dear as the softer joys green vales impart. | 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.