Sonnet From The Portuguese Of Semedo

William Cullen Bryant 1794 (Cummington) – 1878 (New York City)



It is a fearful night; a feeble glare
Streams from the sick moon in the o'erclouded sky;
The ridgy billows, with a mighty cry,
Rush on the foamy beaches wild and bare;
No bark the madness of the waves will dare;
The sailors sleep; the winds are loud and high;
Ah, peerless Laura! for whose love I die,
Who gazes on thy smiles while I despair?
As thus, in bitterness of heart, I cried,
I turned, and saw my Laura, kind and bright,
A messenger of gladness, at my side:
To my poor bark she sprang with footstep light,
And as we furrowed Tago's heaving tide,
I never saw so beautiful a night.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
107

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBACDCDCD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 583
Words 115
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post. more…

All William Cullen Bryant poems | William Cullen Bryant Books

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