Sonnet XXII
From Possibility's dim chaos sprung,High o'er its gloom the Aërostatic PowerArose!--Exulting Nations hail'd the hour,Magnific boast of Science!--Loud they sungHer victory o'er the element, that hung,Pressing to earth the Beings, who now soarAerial heights;--but Wisdom bids exploreThis vaunted skill;--if, tides of air among,We know to steer our bark.--Here Science findsHer buoyant hopes burst, like the bubble vain,Type of this art;--guilty, if still she blindsThe sense of Fear; persists thy flame to fan,Sky-vaulting Pride, that to the aweless windsThrows, for an idle Show, the LIFE OF MAN!
Words in this poem
- chaos n.
- An empty, immeasurable space; a yawning chasm. [L. chaos chaos (in senses 1 & 2), Gr. Chasm.]
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- magnific a.
- Grand; splendid; illustrious; magnificent. 1 Chron. [L. magnificus; magnus great + facere to make: cf. F. magnifique. See Magnitude, Fact. and cf. Magnificent.]
- explore v. t.
- To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XXII 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 XXII, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/sonnet-xxii.html, id L20476.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXII 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 sprungA · powerB · hourA · sungB · hungC · soarD · exploreC · amongD · findsE · vainF · blindsE · fanF · windsG · manG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From Possibility's dim chaos sprung, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| High o'er its gloom the Aërostatic Power | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Arose!--Exulting Nations hail'd the hour, | 11 | ˘/˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Magnific boast of Science!--Loud they sung | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Her victory o'er the element, that hung, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Pressing to earth the Beings, who now soar | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Aerial heights;--but Wisdom bids explore | 10 | /˘˘··/˘·˘/ |
| This vaunted skill;--if, tides of air among, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| We know to steer our bark.--Here Science finds | 10 | ····/··/˘· |
| Her buoyant hopes burst, like the bubble vain, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Type of this art;--guilty, if still she blinds | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| The sense of Fear; persists thy flame to fan, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Sky-vaulting Pride, that to the aweless winds | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Throws, for an idle Show, the LIFE OF MAN! | 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.