Analysis of Sonnet IX.
Fernando Pessoa 1888 (Lisbon District) – 1935 (Lisbon)
Oh to be idle loving idleness!
But I am idle all in hate of me;
Ever in action's dream, in the false stress
Of purposed action never set to be.
Like a fierce beast self-penned in a bait-lair,
My will to act binds with excess my action,
Not-acting coils the thought with raged despair,
And acting rage doth paint despair distraction.
Like someone sinking in a treacherous sand,
Each gesture to deliver sinks the more;
The struggle avails not, and to raise no hand,
Though but more slowly useless, we've no power.
Hence live I the dead life each day doth bring,
Repurposed for next day's repurposing.
Scheme | ABCBDEDEFGFHII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111010100 1111010111 1001010011 111010111 1011110011 1111111110 1101011101 01011101010 1110001001 1101010101 0101101111 11110101110 1110111111 11111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 585 |
Words | 107 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 470 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 107 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 33 sec read
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"Sonnet IX." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55211/sonnet-ix.>.
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