Analysis of Sonnet XIII

Alan Seeger 1888 (New York City) – 1916



I fancied, while you stood conversing there,
Superb, in every attitude a queen,
Her ermine thus Boadicea bare,
So moved amid the multitude Faustine.
My life, whose whole religion Beauty is,
Be charged with sin if ever before yours
A lesser feeling crossed my mind than his
Who owning grandeur marvels and adores.
Nay, rather in my dream-world's ivory tower
I made your image the high pearly sill,
And mounting there in many a wistful hour,
Burdened with love, I trembled and was still,
Seeing discovered from that azure height
Remote, untrod horizons of delight.


Scheme ABABCDCEFGFGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 1101110101 0101001001 010111 110101010 1111010101 1111110011 0101011111 1100110001 110011110010 1111001101 010101001010 1011110011 1001011101 011010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 570
Words 97
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 450
Words per stanza (avg) 95
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

29 sec read
115

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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