Analysis of Sonnet VII. To Burke

Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772 (Ottery St Mary) – 1834 (Highgate)



As late I lay in Slumber's shadowy vale,
With wetted cheek and in a mourner's guise,
I saw the sainted form of FREEDOM rise:
She spake! not sadder moans the autumnal gale.
'Great Son of Genius! sweet to me thy name,
Ere in an evil hour with alter'd voice
Thou bad'st Oppression's hireling crew rejoice
Blasting with wizard spell my laurell'd fame.
Yet never, Burke! thou drank'st Corruption's bowl!
Thee stormy Pity, and the cherished lure
Of Pomp, and proud Precipitance of soul,
Wildered with meteor fires. Ah, Spirit pure!
That error's mist had left thy purged eye:
So might I clasp thee with a Mother's joy!'


Scheme ABBACDDCEFEFGH
Poetic Form
Metre 1111011001 11100011 1101011101 11110100101 1111011111 10110101101 11111101 101101111 110111111 1101000101 1101111 11100101101 11111111 1111110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 607
Words 110
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 475
Words per stanza (avg) 107
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
105

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. more…

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