To the Departing Spirit of an Alienated Friend
O, EVER DEAR! thy precious, vital powersSink rapidly!--the long and dreary NightBrings scarce an hope that Morn's returning lightShall dawn for THEE!--In such terrific hours,When yearning Fondness eagerly devoursEach moment of protracted life, his flightThe Rashly-Chosen of thy heart has ta'enWhere dances, songs, and theatres invite.EXPIRING SWEETNESS! with indignant painI see him in the scenes where laughing glidePleasure's light Forms;--see his eyes gaily glow,Regardless of thy life's fast ebbing tide;I hear him, who shou'd droop in silent woe,Declaim on Actors, and on Taste decide!
Words in this poem
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- 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,]
- fondness n.
- The quality or state of being fond; foolishness.
- expiring a.
- Breathing out air from the lungs; emitting fluid or volatile matter; exhaling; breathing the last breath; dying; ending; terminating.
- indignant a.
- Affected with indignation; wrathful; passionate; irate; feeling wrath, as when a person is exasperated by unworthy or unjust treatment, by a mean action, or by a degrading accusation. [L. indignans, -antis, p. pr. of indignari to be indignant, disdain. See Indign.]
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Departing Spirit of an Alienated Friend 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, To the Departing Spirit of an Alienated Friend, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/to-the-departing-spirit-of-an-alienated-friend.html, id L09785.
Form and metre
To the Departing Spirit of an Alienated Friend 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%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 57% 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 powersA · nightB · lightA · hoursB · devoursC · flightD · ta'enC · inviteD · painE · glideF · glowE · tideF · woeG · decideG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O, EVER DEAR! thy precious, vital powers | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Sink rapidly!--the long and dreary Night | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Brings scarce an hope that Morn's returning light | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Shall dawn for THEE!--In such terrific hours, | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| When yearning Fondness eagerly devours | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Each moment of protracted life, his flight | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| The Rashly-Chosen of thy heart has ta'en | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Where dances, songs, and theatres invite. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| EXPIRING SWEETNESS! with indignant pain | 10 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| I see him in the scenes where laughing glide | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Pleasure's light Forms;--see his eyes gaily glow, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Regardless of thy life's fast ebbing tide; | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| I hear him, who shou'd droop in silent woe, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Declaim on Actors, and on Taste decide! | 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.