Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNET (7) by ALFRED TENNYSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: O BEAUTY, PASSING BEAUTY! SWEETEST SWEET!
Last Line: HATH MELTED IN THE SILENCE THAT IT BROKE.
Subject(s): DESIRE;

O BEAUTY, passing beauty! sweetest Sweet!
How canst thou let me waste my youth in sighs?
I only ask to sit beside thy feet.
Thou knowest I dare not look into thine eyes.
Might I but kiss thy hand! I dare not fold
My arms about thee -- scarcely dare to speak.
And nothing seems to me so wild and bold,
As with one kiss to touch thy blessed cheek.
Methinks if I should kiss thee, no control
Within the thrilling brain could keep afloat
The subtle spirit. Even while I spoke,
The bare word KISS hath made my inner soul
To tremble like a lutestring, ere the note
Hath melted in the silence that it broke.





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