Winter Evening
When mourn the dark Winds o'er the lonely plain,And from pale noon sinks, ere the fifth cold hour,The transient light, Imagination's power,With Knowledge, and with Science in her train,Not unpropitious Hyems' icy reignPerceives; since in the deep and silent lourHigh themes the rapt concent'ring Thoughts explore,Freed from external Pleasure's glittering chain.Then most the understanding's culture paysLuxuriant harvest, nor shall Folly bringHer aids obtrusive.--Then, with ardent gaze,The INGENIOUS to their rich resources spring,While sullen Winter's dull imprisoning daysHang on the vacant mind with flagging wing.
Words in this poem
- lour n.
- An Asiatic sardine (Clupea Neohowii), valued for its oil. [Native name.]
- 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.]
- explore v. t.
- To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
- 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,]
- obtrusive a.
- Disposed to obtrude; inclined to intrude or thrust one's self or one's opinions upon others, or to enter uninvited; forward; pushing; intrusive.
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- flagging n.
- A pavement or sidewalk of flagstones; flagstones, collectively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Winter Evening 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, Winter Evening, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/winter-evening.html, id L09791.
Form and metre
Winter Evening 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 85%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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 plainA · hourB · powerA · trainB · reignC · lourD · exploreC · chainD · paysE · bringF · gazeE · springF · daysG · wingG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When mourn the dark Winds o'er the lonely plain, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And from pale noon sinks, ere the fifth cold hour, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| The transient light, Imagination's power, | 11 | ·/˘·˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| With Knowledge, and with Science in her train, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Not unpropitious Hyems' icy reign | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Perceives; since in the deep and silent lour | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| High themes the rapt concent'ring Thoughts explore, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Freed from external Pleasure's glittering chain. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Then most the understanding's culture pays | 10 | ···˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Luxuriant harvest, nor shall Folly bring | 10 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Her aids obtrusive.--Then, with ardent gaze, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| The INGENIOUS to their rich resources spring, | 10 | ·˘/˘···/˘· |
| While sullen Winter's dull imprisoning days | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Hang on the vacant mind with flagging wing. | 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.