Sonnet XVI
O, GENIUS! does thy Sun-resembling beamTo the internal eyes of Man displayIn clearer prospect, the momentous wayThat leads to peace? Do they not rather seemDazzled by lustres in continual stream,Till night they find in such excessive day?Art thou not prone, with too intense a ray,To gild the hope improbable, the dreamOf fancied good?--or bid the sigh upbraidImaginary evils, and involveAll real sorrow in a darker shade?To fond credulity, to rash resolveDost thou not prompt, till reason's sacred aidAnd fair discretion in thy fires dissolve?
Words in this poem
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
- momentous a.
- Of moment or consequence; very important; weighty; as, a momentous decision; momentous affairs. [Cf. L. momentosus rapid, momentary.]
- upbraid n.
- The act of reproaching; contumely.
- discretion n.
- Disjunction; separation. Mede. [F. discrétion, L. discretio separation, difference, discernment, fr. discernere, discretum. See Discreet, Discern.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XVI 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 XVI, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/sonnet-xvi.html, id L20470.
Form and metre
Sonnet XVI 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 beamA · displayB · wayA · seemB · streamC · dayD · rayC · dreamD · upbraidE · involveF · shadeE · resolveF · aidG · dissolveG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O, GENIUS! does thy Sun-resembling beam | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| To the internal eyes of Man display | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| In clearer prospect, the momentous way | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| That leads to peace? Do they not rather seem | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Dazzled by lustres in continual stream, | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Till night they find in such excessive day? | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Art thou not prone, with too intense a ray, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| To gild the hope improbable, the dream | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Of fancied good?--or bid the sigh upbraid | 10 | ·/˘·····/· |
| Imaginary evils, and involve | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| All real sorrow in a darker shade? | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| To fond credulity, to rash resolve | 10 | ··˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| Dost thou not prompt, till reason's sacred aid | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And fair discretion in thy fires dissolve? | 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.