Sonnet XXIV
Now young-ey'd Spring, on gentle breezes borne,'Mid the deep woodlands, hills, and vales, and bowers,Unfolds her leaves, her blossoms, and her flowers,Pouring their soft luxuriance on the morn.O! how unlike the wither'd, wan, forlorn,And limping Winter, that o'er russet moors,Grey ridgy fields, and ice-incrusted shores,Strays!--and commands his rising Winds to mourn.Protracted Life, thou art ordain'd to wearA form like his; and, shou'd thy gifts be mine,I tremble lest a kindred influence drearSteal on my mind;--but pious Hope benign,The Soul's bright day-spring, shall avert the fear,And gild Existence in her dim decline.
Words in this poem
- luxuriance n.
- The state or quality of being luxuriant; rank, vigorous growth; excessive abundance produced by rank growth. [Cf. F. luxuriance.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- ridgy a.
- Having a ridge or ridges; rising in a ridge.
- drear n.
- Sadness; dismalness.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XXIV 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 XXIV, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/sonnet-xxiv.html, id L20478.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXIV 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 91%).
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 borneA · bowersB · flowersA · mornB · forlornC · moorsD · shoresC · mournD · wearE · mineF · drearE · benignF · fearG · declineG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Now young-ey'd Spring, on gentle breezes borne, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| 'Mid the deep woodlands, hills, and vales, and bowers, | 11 | ···/·····/˘ |
| Unfolds her leaves, her blossoms, and her flowers, | 11 | ˘/···/˘··/˘ |
| Pouring their soft luxuriance on the morn. | 11 | /˘··˘/˘˘··· |
| O! how unlike the wither'd, wan, forlorn, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| And limping Winter, that o'er russet moors, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Grey ridgy fields, and ice-incrusted shores, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Strays!--and commands his rising Winds to mourn. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Protracted Life, thou art ordain'd to wear | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/·· |
| A form like his; and, shou'd thy gifts be mine, | 10 | ·········· |
| I tremble lest a kindred influence drear | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Steal on my mind;--but pious Hope benign, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The Soul's bright day-spring, shall avert the fear, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And gild Existence in her dim decline. | 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.