Sonnet VII
Lo! in the orient when the gracious lightLifts up his burning head, each under eyeDoth homage to his new-appearing sight,Serving with looks his sacred majesty;And having climb’d the steep-up heavenly hill,Resembling strong youth in his middle age,Yet mortal looks adore his beauty still,Attending on his golden pilgrimage:But when from highmost pitch, with weary car,Like feeble age, he reeleth from the day,The eyes, ’fore duteous, now converted areFrom his low tract, and look another way:So thou, thyself outgoing in thy noon:Unlook’d, on diest unless thou get a son.
Words in this poem
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- pilgrimage n.
- The journey of a pilgrim; a long journey; especially, a journey to a shrine or other sacred place. Fig., the journey of human life. [OE. pilgrimage, pelgrinage; cf. F. pèlerinage.]
- duteous a.
- Fulfilling duty; dutiful; having the sentiments due to a superior, or to one to whom respect or service is owed; obedient; as, a duteous son or daughter. [From Duty.]
- outgoing n.
- The act or the state of going out.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet VII is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shakespeare's Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #1041; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Shakespeare, Sonnet VII, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-7.html, id L00025.
Form and metre
Sonnet VII 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 84%). 88% 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. 21% 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 lightA · eyeB · sightA · majestyB · hillC · ageD · stillC · pilgrimageD · carE · dayF · areE · wayF · noonG · sonG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lo! in the orient when the gracious light | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| Lifts up his burning head, each under eye | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Doth homage to his new-appearing sight, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Serving with looks his sacred majesty; | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘˘ |
| And having climb’d the steep-up heavenly hill, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Resembling strong youth in his middle age, | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Yet mortal looks adore his beauty still, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Attending on his golden pilgrimage: | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| But when from highmost pitch, with weary car, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Like feeble age, he reeleth from the day, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The eyes, ’fore duteous, now converted are | 11 | ···/˘˘·˘/˘· |
| From his low tract, and look another way: | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| So thou, thyself outgoing in thy noon: | 10 | ··˘//·˘··· |
| Unlook’d, on diest unless thou get a son. | 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.