Analysis of Sonnet XIX. To A Friend, Who Asked How I Felt When The Nurse First Presented My Infant To Me
Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772 (Ottery St Mary) – 1834 (Highgate)
Charles! my slow heart was only sad, when first
I scanned that face of feeble infancy;
For dimly on my thoughtful spirit burst
All I had been, and all my babe might be!
But when I saw it on its Mother's arm,
And hanging at her bosom (she the while
Bent o'er its features with a tearful smile),
Then I was thrilled and melted, and most warm
Impressed a Father's kiss: and all beguiled
Of dark remembrance, and presageful fear,
I seemed to see an Angel's form appear--
'Twas even thine, beloved Woman mild!
So for the Mother's sake the Child was dear,
And dearer was the Mother for the Child.
Scheme | ABABCDDEFGGFGF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110111 1111110100 1101110101 1111011111 1111111101 0101010101 11011010101 1111010011 0101010101 11010011 111111101 110101101 1101010111 0101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 587 |
Words | 113 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 455 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 111 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 10, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 112 Views
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"Sonnet XIX. To A Friend, Who Asked How I Felt When The Nurse First Presented My Infant To Me" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/34322/sonnet-xix.--to-a-friend%2C-who-asked-how-i-felt-when-the-nurse-first-presented-my-infant-to-me>.
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