Sonnet XXXVIII
As lightens the brown Hill to vivid greenWhen juvenescent April's showery SunLooks on its side, with golden glance, at Noon;So on the gloom of Life's now faded sceneShines the dear image of those days serene,From Memory's consecrated treasures won;The days that rose, ere youth, and years were flown,Soft as the morn of May;--and well I weenIf they had clouds, in Time's alembic clearThey vanish'd all, and their gay vision glowsIn brightness unobscur'd; and now they wearA more than pristine sunniness, which throwsThose mild reflected lights that soften care,Loss of lov'd Friends, and all the train of Woes.
Words in this poem
- juvenescent a.
- Growing or becoming young. [L. juvenescens, p. pr. of juvenescere to grow young again, from juvenis young.]
- showery a.
- Raining in showers; abounding with frequent showers of rain.
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- 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.]
- ween v. i.
- To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
- sunniness n.
- The quality or state of being sunny.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XXXVIII 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 XXXVIII, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/sonnet-xxxviii.html, id L20492.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXXVIII 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 greenA · sunB · noonA · sceneB · sereneC · wonD · flownC · weenD · clearE · glowsF · wearE · throwsF · careG · woesG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As lightens the brown Hill to vivid green | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| When juvenescent April's showery Sun | 11 | ·····/˘/˘˘· |
| Looks on its side, with golden glance, at Noon; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| So on the gloom of Life's now faded scene | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Shines the dear image of those days serene, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| From Memory's consecrated treasures won; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| The days that rose, ere youth, and years were flown, | 10 | ·········· |
| Soft as the morn of May;--and well I ween | 10 | ·········· |
| If they had clouds, in Time's alembic clear | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| They vanish'd all, and their gay vision glows | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| In brightness unobscur'd; and now they wear | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A more than pristine sunniness, which throws | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Those mild reflected lights that soften care, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Loss of lov'd Friends, and all the train of Woes. | 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.