Analysis of Sonnet XLI. To Tranquility

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



IN this tumultuous sphere, for thee unfit,
How seldom art thou found--Tranquillity!
Unless 'tis when with mild and downcast eye
By the low cradles thou delight'st to sit
Of sleeping infants--watching the soft breath,
And bidding the sweet slumberers easy lie;
Or sometimes hanging o'er the bed of death,
Where the poor languid sufferer--hopes to die.
Oh, beauteous sister of the halcyon peace!
I sure shall find thee in that heavenly scene
Where care and anguish shall their power resign;
Where hope alike, and vain regret shall cease,
And memory--lost in happiness serene,
Repeat no more--that misery has been mine!


Scheme AABACBCBDEFDEF
Poetic Form
Metre 0110011101 1101111 011111011 10110101111 1101010011 010011101 10110100111 10110100111 1110101001 11111011001 11010111001 1101010111 01001010001 01111100111
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 611
Words 102
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 490
Words per stanza (avg) 100
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
95

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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