What is a sonnet? 'T is the pearly shell That murmurs of the far-off murmuring sea; A precious jewel carved most curiously; It is a little picture painted well. What is a sonnet? 'T is the tear that fell From a great poet's hidden ecstasy; A two-edged sword, a star, a song, -- ah me! Sometimes a heavy-tolling funeral bell. This was the flame that shook with Dante's breath, The solemn organ whereon Milton played, And the clear glass where Shakespeare's shadow falls: A sea this is, -- beware who ventureth! For like a fiord the narrow floor is laid Mid-ocean deep to the sheer mountain walls. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LISBON PACKET by GEORGE GORDON BYRON THE WEARY BLUES by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES THE OLD MAN'S WISH by WALTER POPE STILL FALLS THE RAIN; THE RAIDS, 1940. NIGHT AND DAWN by EDITH SITWELL |