Sonnet XXI
Rapt CONTEMPLATION, bring thy waking dreamsTo this umbrageous vale at noon-tide hour,While full of thee seems every bending flower,Whose petals tremble o'er the shadow'd streams!Give thou HONORA's image, when her beams,Youth, beauty, kindness, shone;--what time she woreThat smile, of gentle, yet resistless powerTo sooth each painful Passion's wild extremes.Here shall no empty, vain Intruder chase,With idle converse, thy enchantment warm,That brings, in all its interest, all its grace,The dear, persuasive, visionary Form.Can real Life a rival blessing boastWhen thou canst thus restore HONORA early lost?
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.]
- umbrageous a.
- Forming or affording a shade; shady; shaded; as, umbrageous trees or foliage. [Cf. F. ombraqeux shy, skittish, suspicious, in OF. also, shady. See Umbrage.]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- resistless a.
- Having no power to resist; making no opposition.
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- 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,]
- intruder n.
- One who intrudes; one who thrusts himself in, or enters without right, or without leave or welcome; a trespasser.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XXI 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 XXI, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/sonnet-xxi.html, id L20475.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXI 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 95%).
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 dreamsA · hourB · flowerA · streamsB · beamsC · woreD · powerC · extremesD · chaseE · warmF · graceE · formF · boastG · lostG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Rapt CONTEMPLATION, bring thy waking dreams | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| To this umbrageous vale at noon-tide hour, | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| While full of thee seems every bending flower, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Whose petals tremble o'er the shadow'd streams! | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Give thou HONORA's image, when her beams, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Youth, beauty, kindness, shone;--what time she wore | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| That smile, of gentle, yet resistless power | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| To sooth each painful Passion's wild extremes. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Here shall no empty, vain Intruder chase, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| With idle converse, thy enchantment warm, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| That brings, in all its interest, all its grace, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The dear, persuasive, visionary Form. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘· |
| Can real Life a rival blessing boast | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| When thou canst thus restore HONORA early lost? | 12 | ····˘/˘/˘/˘· |
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