Analysis of Sonnet XXV



As in the midst of battle there is room
For thoughts of love, and in foul sin for mirth;
As gossips whisper of a trinket's worth
Spied by the death-bed's flickering candle-gloom;
As in the crevices of Caesar's tomb
The sweet herbs flourish on a little earth
So in this great disaster of our birth
We can be happy, and forget our doom.

For morning, with a ray of tenderest joy
Gilding the iron heaven, hides the truth,
And evening gently woos us to employ
Our grief in idle catches. Such is youth;
Till from that summer's trance we wake, to find
Despair before us, vanity behind.


Scheme ABBAABBA CDCDEE
Poetic Form Petrarchan sonnet 
Metre 1001110111 1111001111 110101011 11011100101 1001001101 0111010101 10110101101 11110001101 110101111 1001010101 0101011101 10101010111 1111011111 0101110001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 573
Words 109
Sentences 4
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 227
Words per stanza (avg) 54
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
72

George Santayana

Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known as George Santayana, was a philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. more…

All George Santayana poems | George Santayana Books

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