Sonnet- Isabelle Rinker

By Henry Timrod 1828–1867 Henry Timrod

I thank you, kind and best beloved friend,

 

With the same thanks one murmurs to a sister,

 

When, for some gentle favor, he hath kissed her,

 

Less for the gifts than for the love you send,

 

Less for the flowers, than what the flowers convey;

 

If I, indeed, divine their meaning truly,

 

And not unto myself ascribe, unduly,

 

Things which you neither meant nor wished to say,

 

Oh! tell me, is the hope then all misplaced?

 

And am I flattered by my own affection?

 

But in your beauteous gift, methought I traced

 

Something above a short-lived predilection,

 

And which, for that I know no dearer name,

 

I designate as love, without love’s flame.

 

This is a sonnet in the form abbacddcefefegg. It would be in traditional sonnet form if the first couple lines were in abab form instead of abba form. The shift at the end represents an overall picture of this man’s love. This form ties into the message of the poem as it has a romantic structure to go along with the romantic theme. I chose this sonnet because it seemed beautiful and romantic and I like that kind of thing. To me, it represented love and the symbols of gifts that one lover gives to another.