Analysis of Sonnet XVII. Composed On A Journey Homeward; The Author Having Received Intelligence Of The Birth Of A Son
Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772 (Ottery St Mary) – 1834 (Highgate)
Oft o'er my brain does that strange fancy roll
Which makes the present (while the flash dost last)
Seem a mere semblance of some unknown past,
Mixed with such feelings, as perplex the soul
Self-questioned in her sleep: and some have said
We lived ere yet this fleshy robe we wore.
O my sweet Baby! when I reach my door,
If heavy looks should tell me, thou wert dead
(As sometimes, thro' excess of hope, I fear),
I think, that I should struggle to believe
Thou were a Spirit, to this nether sphere
Sentenced for some more venial crime to grieve
Didst scream, then spring to meet Heaven's quick reprieve,
While we wept idly o'er thy little bier.
Sept. 20, 1796.
Scheme | ABBACDDCEFEFFX X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011111101 1101010111 1011011011 1111010101 1100010111 1111110111 1111011111 1101111111 101111111 1111110101 1001011101 101111111 11111110101 11110101101 1 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 654 |
Words | 123 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 1 |
Lines Amount | 15 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 256 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 61 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 12, 2023
- 37 sec read
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"Sonnet XVII. Composed On A Journey Homeward; The Author Having Received Intelligence Of The Birth Of A Son" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/34325/sonnet-xvii.--composed-on-a-journey-homeward%3B-the-author-having-received-intelligence-of-the-birth-of-a-son>.
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