Analysis of Sonnet, To Genevra

George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)



Thine eyes' blue tenderness, thy long fair hair,
And the wan lustre of thy features­ caught
From contemplation-where serenely wrought,
Seems Sorrow's softness charm'd from its despair--
Have thrown such speaking sadness in thine air
That--but I know thy blessed bosom fraught
With mines of unalloy'd and stainless thought--
I should have deem'd thee doom'd to earthly care.
With such an aspect, by his colours blent,
When from his beauty-breathing pen­cil born
(Except that thou hast nothing to repent),
The Magdalen of Guido saw the morn--
Such seem'st thou--but how much more excellent!
With nought Remorse can claim--nor Virtue scorn.

December 17, 1813.


Scheme ABCAACCABDXDXD X
Poetic Form
Metre 1111001111 0011011101 1010101001 111011101 1111010011 111111101 111010101 1111111101 11111111 1111010111 0111110101 0100110101 11111111100 1101111101 010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 654
Words 105
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 14, 1
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 259
Words per stanza (avg) 52
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 19, 2023

33 sec read
312

George Gordon Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet, peer and politician who became a revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence, and is considered one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement. He is regarded as one of the greatest English poets and remains widely read and influential. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; many of his shorter lyrics in Hebrew Melodies also became popular. He travelled extensively across Europe, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years in the cities of Venice, Ravenna, and Pisa. During his stay in Italy he frequently visited his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in life Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire and died of disease leading a campaign during that war, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died in 1824 at the age of 36 from a fever contracted after the First and Second Siege of Missolonghi. His only legitimate child, Ada Lovelace, is regarded as a foundational figure in the field of computer programming based on her notes for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. Byron's illegitimate children include Allegra Byron, who died in childhood, and possibly Elizabeth Medora Leigh.  more…

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