Sonnet X.
Fernando Pessoa 1888 (Lisbon District) – 1935 (Lisbon)
As to a child, I talked my heart asleep
With empty promise of the coming day,
And it slept rather for my words made sleep
Than from a thought of what their sense did say.
For did it care for sense, would it not wake
And question closer to the morrow's pleasure?
Would it not edge nearer my words, to take
The promise in the meting of its measure?
So, if it slept, 'twas that it cared but for
The present sleepy use of promised joy,
Thanking the fruit but for the forecome flower
Which the less active senses best enjoy.
Thus with deceit do I detain the heart
Of which deceit's self knows itself a part.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 8 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFDFGG |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 589 |
Words | 117 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"Sonnet X." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/55216/sonnet-x.>.
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