Analysis of Sonnet: On seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams weep at a tale of distress
William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)
She wept.--Life's purple tide began to flow
In languid streams through every thrilling vein;
Dim were my swimming eyes--my pulse beat slow,
And my full heart was swell'd to dear delicious pain.
Life left my loaded heart, and closing eye;
A sigh recall'd the wanderer to my breast;
Dear was the pause of life, and dear the sigh
That call'd the wanderer home, and home to rest.
That tear proclaims--in thee each virtue dwells,
And bright will shine in misery's midnight hour;
As the soft star of dewy evening tells
What radiant fires were drown'd by day's malignant pow'r,
That only wait the darkness of the night
To cheer the wand'ring wretch with hospitable light.
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEGHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111010111 01011100101 1011011111 011111110101 1111010101 01010100111 1101110101 11010010111 1101011101 011101110 1011110101 110010011101011 1101010101 110111111001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 660 |
Words | 118 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 521 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 115 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 18, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 92 Views
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"Sonnet: On seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams weep at a tale of distress" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42327/sonnet%3A-on-seeing-miss-helen-maria-williams-weep-at-a-tale-of-distress>.
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