Sonnet XXVI
Long has the pall of Midnight quench'd the scene,And wrapt the hush'd horizon.--All around,In scatter'd huts, Labor, in sleep profound,Lies stretch'd, and rosy Innocence sereneSlumbers;--but creeps, with pale and starting mien,Benighted SUPERSTITION.--Fancy-found,The late self-slaughter'd Man, in earth yet greenAnd festering, burst from his incumbent mound,Roams!--and the Slave of Terror thinks he hearsA mutter'd groan!--sees the sunk eye, that glaresAs shoots the Meteor.--But no more forlornHe strays;--the Spectre sinks into his tomb!For now the jocund Herald of the MornClaps his bold wings, and sounds along the gloom.
Words in this poem
- 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]
- spectre n.
- Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.]
- jocund
- Merry; cheerful; gay; airy; lively; sportive. [L. jocundus, jucundus, orig., helpful, fr. juvare to help. See Aid.]
- 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.]
- claps v. t.
- Variant of Clasp
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XXVI 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 XXVI, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/sonnet-xxvi.html, id L20480.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXVI 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 88%).
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 sceneA · aroundB · profoundA · sereneB · mienC · foundD · greenC · moundD · hearsE · glaresF · forlornE · tombF · mornG · gloomG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Long has the pall of Midnight quench'd the scene, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| And wrapt the hush'd horizon.--All around, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| In scatter'd huts, Labor, in sleep profound, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘··˘/ |
| Lies stretch'd, and rosy Innocence serene | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Slumbers;--but creeps, with pale and starting mien, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Benighted SUPERSTITION.--Fancy-found, | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| The late self-slaughter'd Man, in earth yet green | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And festering, burst from his incumbent mound, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Roams!--and the Slave of Terror thinks he hears | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A mutter'd groan!--sees the sunk eye, that glares | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| As shoots the Meteor.--But no more forlorn | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| He strays;--the Spectre sinks into his tomb! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For now the jocund Herald of the Morn | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Claps his bold wings, and sounds along the gloom. | 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.