The Sonnet
Here is my favorite sonnet of all time, written by George Meredith in 1883. For some reason, I associate this poem with summer, maybe because I memorized it in college and would recite it to myself when I went out jogging in the warm weather.
Lucifer in Starlight
ON a starr'd night Prince Lucifer uprose.
Tired of his dark dominion swung the fiend
Above the rolling ball in cloud part screen'd,
Where sinners hugg'd their spectre of repose.
Poor prey to his hot fit of pride were those.
And now upon his western wing he lean'd,
Now his huge bulk o'er Afric's sands careen'd,
Now the black planet shadow'd Arctic snows.
Soaring through wider zones that prick'd his scars
With memory of the old revolt from Awe,
He reach'd a middle height, and at the stars,
Which are the brain of heaven, he look'd, and sank.
Around the ancient track march'd, rank on rank,
The army of unalterable law.
Lucifer in Starlight
ON a starr'd night Prince Lucifer uprose.
Tired of his dark dominion swung the fiend
Above the rolling ball in cloud part screen'd,
Where sinners hugg'd their spectre of repose.
Poor prey to his hot fit of pride were those.
And now upon his western wing he lean'd,
Now his huge bulk o'er Afric's sands careen'd,
Now the black planet shadow'd Arctic snows.
Soaring through wider zones that prick'd his scars
With memory of the old revolt from Awe,
He reach'd a middle height, and at the stars,
Which are the brain of heaven, he look'd, and sank.
Around the ancient track march'd, rank on rank,
The army of unalterable law.
posted by Anonymous at
6:15 PM
1 Comments:
Lynn, This is too funny. This sonnet was a great favorite of a high school friend of mine who majored in English lit, so you're the second fan I've known. I'd probably pick either "Earth has not anything to show more fair" or "Would bright star I were steadfast as thou art"--a romantic to the end!
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