Analysis of Sonnet XVI: Who Shall Invoke Her

Alan Seeger 1888 (New York City) – 1916



Who shall invoke her, who shall be her priest,
With single rites the common debt to pay?
On some green headland fronting to the East
Our fairest boy shall kneel at break of day.
Naked, uplifting in a laden tray
New milk and honey and sweet-tinctured wine,
Not without twigs of clustering apple-spray
To wreath a garland for Our Lady's shrine.
The morning planet poised above the sea
Shall drop sweet influence through her drowsing lid;
Dew-drenched, his delicate virginity
Shall scarce disturb the flowers he kneels amid,
That, waked so lightly, shall lift up their eyes,
Cushion his knees, and nod between his thighs.


Scheme ABABBCBCDEDEFF
Poetic Form
Metre 1101011101 1101010111 111110101 10101111111 101000101 110100111 10111100101 11010110101 0101010101 1111001011 1111000100 11010101101 1111011111 1011010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 613
Words 107
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 495
Words per stanza (avg) 105
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
42

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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    Who wrote the poem ״Invictus״?
    A Sylvia Plath
    B Oscar Wilde
    C William Ernest Henley
    D Thomas Hardy