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 Views
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"Sonnet XVI: Who Shall Invoke Her" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/340/sonnet-xvi%3A-who-shall-invoke-her>.
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