Sonnets
I "Poet! If on a Lasting Fame Be Bent"II "Most Men Know Love But as a Part of Life"III "Life Ever Seems as from Its Present Site"IV "They Dub Thee Idler, Smiling Sneeringly"V "Some Truths There Be Are Better Left Unsaid"VI "I Scarcely Grieve, O Nature! at the Lot"VII "Grief Dies Like Joy; the Tears Upon My Cheek"VIII "At Last, Beloved Nature! I Have Met"IX "I Know Not Why, But All This Weary Day"X "Were I the Poet-Laureate of the Fairies"XI "Which Are the Clouds, and Which the Mountains? See"XII "What Gossamer Lures Thee Now? What Hope, What Name"XIII "I Thank You, Kind and Best Beloved Friend"XIV "Are These Wild Thoughts, Thus Fettered in My Rhymes"XV In Memoriam--Harris Simons
Words in this poem
- sneeringly adv.
- In a sneering manner.
- gossamer n.
- A fine, filmy substance, like cobwebs, floating in the air, in calm, clear weather, especially in autumn. It is seen in stubble fields and on furze or low bushes, and is formed by small spiders. [OE. gossomer, gossummer, gosesomer, perh. for goose summer, from its downy appearance, or perh. for God's summer, cf. G. mariengarr gossamer, properly Mary's ya]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- fettered a.
- Seeming as if fettered, as the feet pf certain animals which bend backward, and appear unfit for walking.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnets is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Henry Timrod; with Memoir, Project Gutenberg ebook #845; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Timrod, Sonnets, in Poems (1860–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #845, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/timrod-poems/sonnets.html, id L10439.
Form and metre
Sonnets is 15 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is trochaic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.7 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic hexameter.
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.
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 trochaic hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I "Poet! If on a Lasting Fame Be Bent" | 11 | ·/˘···/˘··· |
| II "Most Men Know Love But as a Part of Life" | 11 | ··········· |
| III "Life Ever Seems as from Its Present Site" | 10 | ··/····˘/· |
| IV "They Dub Thee Idler, Smiling Sneeringly" | 11 | ····/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| V "Some Truths There Be Are Better Left Unsaid" | 11 | ······/˘·˘/ |
| VI "I Scarcely Grieve, O Nature! at the Lot" | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| VII "Grief Dies Like Joy; the Tears Upon My Cheek" | 11 | ··········· |
| VIII "At Last, Beloved Nature! I Have Met" | 10 | ···˘//˘··· |
| IX "I Know Not Why, But All This Weary Day" | 11 | ········/˘· |
| X "Were I the Poet-Laureate of the Fairies" | 12 | ····/˘/˘··/˘ |
| XI "Which Are the Clouds, and Which the Mountains? See" | 11 | ········/˘· |
| XII "What Gossamer Lures Thee Now? What Hope, What Name" | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| XIII "I Thank You, Kind and Best Beloved Friend" | 10 | ·······˘/· |
| XIV "Are These Wild Thoughts, Thus Fettered in My Rhymes" | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| XV In Memoriam--Harris Simons | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
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.