Subject Continued
You, whose dull spirits feel not the fine glowEnthusiasm breathes, no more of lightPerceive ye in rapt POESY, tho' brightIn Fancy's richest colouring, than can flowFrom jewel'd treasures in the central nightOf their deep caves.--You have no Sun to showTheir inborn radiance pure.--Go, Snarlers, go;Nor your defects of feeling, and of sight,To charge upon the POET thus presume,Ye lightless minds, whate'er of title proud,Scholar, or Sage, or Critic, ye assume,Arraigning his high claims with censure loud,Or sickly scorn; yours, yours is all the cloud,Gems cannot sparkle in the midnight Gloom.
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.]
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
- colouring n.
- The act of applying color to; also, that which produces color.
- presume v. t.
- To assume or take beforehand; esp., to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained. [F. présumer, L. praesumere, praesumptum; prae before + sumere to take. See Assume, Redeem.]
- lightless a.
- Destitute of light; dark.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Subject Continued 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, Subject Continued, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/subject-continued.html, id L09780.
Form and metre
Subject Continued 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 83%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 43% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 glowA · lightB · brightA · flowB · nightC · showD · goC · sightD · presumeE · proudF · assumeE · loudF · cloudG · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| You, whose dull spirits feel not the fine glow | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Enthusiasm breathes, no more of light | 10 | ˘/˘·˘····· |
| Perceive ye in rapt POESY, tho' bright | 10 | ˘/···/˘˘·· |
| In Fancy's richest colouring, than can flow | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| From jewel'd treasures in the central night | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Of their deep caves.--You have no Sun to show | 10 | ·········· |
| Their inborn radiance pure.--Go, Snarlers, go; | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| Nor your defects of feeling, and of sight, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| To charge upon the POET thus presume, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Ye lightless minds, whate'er of title proud, | 11 | ·/˘·˘˘/·/˘· |
| Scholar, or Sage, or Critic, ye assume, | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Arraigning his high claims with censure loud, | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Or sickly scorn; yours, yours is all the cloud, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Gems cannot sparkle in the midnight 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.