Analysis of Sonnet 03

Alan Seeger 1888 (New York City) – 1916



Why should you be astonished that my heart,
Plunged for so long in darkness and in dearth,
Should be revived by you, and stir and start
As by warm April now, reviving Earth?
I am the field of undulating grass
And you the gentle perfumed breath of Spring,
And all my lyric being, when you pass,
Is bowed and filled with sudden murmuring.
I asked you nothing and expected less,
But, with that deep, impassioned tenderness
Of one approaching what he most adores,
I only wished to lose a little space
All thought of my own life, and in its place
To live and dream and have my joy in yours.


Scheme ABABCDCDEFGHHI
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010111 1111010001 1101110101 1111010101 110111001 0101001111 0111010111 1101110100 1111000101 1111010100 1101011101 1101110101 1111110011 1101011101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 593
Words 113
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 460
Words per stanza (avg) 111
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
85

Alan Seeger

Alan Seeger was an American poet who fought and died in World War I during the Battle of the Somme serving in the French Foreign Legion. more…

All Alan Seeger poems | Alan Seeger Books

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