Sonnet VI.
Fernando Pessoa 1888 (Lisbon District) – 1935 (Lisbon)
As a bad orator, badly o'er-book-skilled,
Doth overflow his purpose with made heat,
And, like a clock, winds with withoutness willed
What should have been an inner instinct's feat;
Or as a prose-wit, harshly poet turned,
Lacking the subtler music in his measure,
With useless care labours but to be spurned,
Courting in alien speech the Muse's pleasure;
I study how to love or how to hate,
Estranged by consciousness from sentiment,
With a thought feeling forced to be sedate
Even when the feeling's nature is violent;
As who would learn to swim without the river,
When nearest to the trick, as far as ever.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 12 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEFDD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 594 |
Words | 105 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"Sonnet VI." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/55213/sonnet-vi.>.
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