Analysis of Sonnet XI. To Sleep

Charlotte Smith 1749 (London) – 1806 (Tilford, Surrey)



COME, balmy Sleep! tired nature's soft resort!
On these sad temples all thy poppies shed;
And bid gay dreams, from Morpheus' airy court,
Float in light vision round my aching head!
Secure of all thy blessings, partial Power!
On his hard bed the peasant throws him down;
And the poor sea-boy, in the rudest hour,
Enjoys thee more than he who wears a crown.
Clasp'd in her faithful shepherd's guardian arms,
Well may the village girl sweet slumbers prove;
And they, O gentle Sleep! still taste thy charms,
Who wake to labour, liberty, and love.
But still thy opiate aid dost thou deny
To calm the anxious breast; to close the streaming eye.


Scheme ABABCDCDEFEGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 11011010101 1111011101 011111101 1011011101 01111101010 1111010111 00111001010 0111111101 10010101001 110101111 0111011111 111110001 11110011101 110101110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 634
Words 115
Sentences 9
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 498
Words per stanza (avg) 113
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 13, 2023

35 sec read
461

Charlotte Smith

Charlotte Turner Smith was an English Romantic poet and novelist. She initiated a revival of the English sonnet, helped establish the conventions of Gothic fiction, and wrote political novels of sensibility. A successful writer, she published ten novels, three books of poetry, four children's books, and other assorted works over the course of her career. She saw herself as a poet first and foremost, poetry at that period being considered the most exalted form of literature. Scholars now credit her with transforming the sonnet into an expression of woeful sentiment. more…

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