Analysis of Sonnet V: O! How Can Love

Mary Darby Robinson 1757 (England) – 1800 (England)



O! How can LOVE exulting Reason queil!
How fades each nobler passion from his gaze!
E'en Fame, that cherishes the Poet's lays,
That fame, ill-fated Sappho lov'd so well.
Lost is the wretch, who in his fatal spell
Wastes the short Summer of delicious days,
And from the tranquil path of wisdom strays,
In passion's thorny wild, forlorn to dwell.
O ye! who in that sacred Temple smile
Where holy Innocence resides enshrin'd;
Who fear not sorrow, and who know not guile,
Each thought compos'd, and ev'ry wish resign'd;
Tempt not the path where pleasure's flow'ry wile
In sweet, but pois'nous fetters, holds the mind.


Scheme ABBAABBAACACAC
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010101 1111010111 11111000101 111101111 1101101101 1011010101 0101011101 011010111 1110110101 1101000101 1111001111 110101101 11011111 011110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 608
Words 107
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 476
Words per stanza (avg) 105
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
65

Mary Darby Robinson

Mary Robinson was an English actress, poet, dramatist, novelist, and celebrity figure. more…

All Mary Darby Robinson poems | Mary Darby Robinson Books

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