“Sonnet to Science” Introduction

• "Sonnet to Science" is an early poem by Edgar Allan Poe, composed in 1829 and published in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. The poem's speaker laments the impact of science on art and creativity, suggesting that science is only interested in "dull realities" and evidence-based observations—as opposed to the wondrous journeys undertaken by the creative imagination. As the title reveals, the poem takes the form of a sonnet (specifically a Shakespearean sonnet) and is written in iambic pentameter.

• Read the full text of “Sonnet to Science”

“Sonnet to Science” Summary

• Oh, Science—you truly are the daughter of ancient time. You change everything with your inquisitive eyes. Why do you target the poet's heart, you bird of prey, with your wings made up of boring reality and facts? How can a poet love you? How can a poet admire your intelligence, if you don't let him wander freely to search for beauty and inspiration in the glittering skies (even as he still soars fearlessly)? Haven't you ripped Diana, the goddess of the hunt, out of her chariot? And scared the tree-nymphs out of the forest to find safety in some better world? Haven't you frightened the water nymphs out of the water, and the elves from the grass? And me—haven't you taken me out of my summery dream underneath the tamarind tree?

“Sonnet to Science” Themes

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  Science vs. Art and Creativity

  Edgar Allan Poe's "Sonnet to Science" pits science against the imagination, beauty, and art. Written during Britain's Industrial Revolution, the poem uses science as a catch-all term for technological progress and strict, evidence-based rationalism. Both of these things, the speaker argues, actively destroy creativity and inspiration with their cold, hard logic.

  The poem implies that being creative demands the freedom to dream of things that aren't strictly real or true. Poems come from the "poet's heart," the speaker says. They are a "treasure" awaiting those willing to "wander[]" in the "jewelled skies" with an "undaunted wing." That is, great poetry and art require great and fearless feats of the imagination.

  Science, by contrast, deals in plain facts and dispassionate observations, and it thus poses a grave threat to creativity. Science is a "true daughter of Old Time"—that is, like the unstoppable forces of time, it lays waste to everything in its path. It's a bird of prey whose wings are made of "dull realities" (boring facts), unable to soar to new, unimaginable worlds. It cruelly feasts on the poet's heart, and the world looks far less interesting when viewed through its "peering eyes."

  To illustrate science's power, the speaker describes it driving weird and wonderful mythical figures from their realms. It "drags" Diana, Roman goddess of the hunt and moon, from her chariot; flushes tree spirits from the forest in order "To seek a shelter in some happier star" (that is, to seek safety on a different planet); and tears water nymphs and elves from their watery and grassy homes. Basically, in explaining how the world works, it makes the world less magical and mystical.

  The speaker may have a grudging respect for science, but they lament the brutal way in which it limits and even crushes the free creative spirit. Where will great works of art come from, the poem implicitly asks, if not from beyond the limits of the rational mind? Even the speaker's own "summer dream" is stolen by science, leaving the speaker isolated "beneath the tamarind tree," waiting for inspiration that science has ensured won’t come.

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Sonnet to Science”

• Lines 1-2

  Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
  Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.

  The poem begins with an apostrophe: the speaker calls out to "Science" directly, as though it were a godly figure who might respond. Science, the speaker says, is the "true daughter of Old Time." This accusation personifies not just science but "Old Time" as well:

  • Poe might have Father Time in mind here, a kind of composite mythological figure inspired by the Greek god Cronos. Father Time represents time's constant forward momentum and, accordingly, its destructive power. Everything decays and dies—and it's all Old Time's fault.
  • This opening line, then, draws a parallel between how science preys on the imagination and how time destroys "all things."

  As the title reveals, this poem is a sonnet. It uses the classic sonnet meter of iambic pentameter, which means that its lines each consist of five iambs (poetic feet with an unstressed-stressed beat pattern, da-DUM).

  Except, the poem actually begins with a trochee (DUM-da):

  Science! | true daugh-| ter of | Old Time | thou art!

  This makes the opening sound particularly dramatic, as though the speaker really needs to speak to science, and right now. The third foot here is also a pyrrhic (two unstressed beats in a row) followed by a spondee (two stressed beats). This makes "Old Time" ring out with added force, reflecting its power.

  In the next line, the speaker declares that science "alterest" (or alters) everything simply by looking at it with its "peering eyes." Science has a sharp, piercing gaze that sees into "all things" and in the process changes them.

  This image of personified "Science" staring at the world brings to mind the scientific method. Science relies on careful, precise observation in order to reveal how the world works. And these revelations, the speaker argues, make the world seem less mysterious and magical; there's no place for dreaming or make-believe (and, ultimately, poetry).

• Lines 3-4

  Why preyest thou thus upon the poet’s heart,
  Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?

  

  

• Lines 5-8

  How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise,
  Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
  To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,
  Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car,
  And driven the Hamadryad from the wood
  To seek a shelter in some happier star?
  Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,

  

  

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• Lines 13-14

  The Elfin from the green grass, and from me
  The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?

  

  

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“Sonnet to Science” Symbols

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  The Exile of Mythical Figures

  In lines 9-13, the poem makes several allusions to creatures from mythology and folklore: Diana, the Hamadryad, the Naiad, and the Elfin. These figures come from ancient Roman, Greek, and Germanic mythology, and there's a reason the speaker has picked such a varied bunch: together, they represent the way human beings attempted to make sense of their natural surroundings before the existence of "science." In the poem, their exile symbolizes the way science has driven mystery and magic from the natural world.

  Throughout human history, mythology/folklore has been one of the main ways in which people understand and interact with the world around them. But science, the speaker argues, has no time for these fanciful creatures and gods. Science interprets the world based on observation, evidence, and rational thinking—not stories. It thus brutally drives each character here out of their habitat, causing a loss of mystery, wonder, and cultural richness. The woods stop being a magical place, instead becoming just another aspect of the world that science can study and measure.

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“Sonnet to Science” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Allusion

  "Sonnet to Science" is packed with allusions. These allusions dramatize the poem's argument that science is a threat to creativity, art, and imagination.

  The clearest allusions appear in lines 9-13, which present science driving mythical figures out of their homes/habitats:

  • Diana, the ancient Roman Goddess of the hunt and the moon (among other things) gets thrown out of her chariot (which Poe calls her "car"). Diana appears in many poems and works of art, making this attack feel particularly pointed and brutal.
  • The Hamadryad, a kind of tree nymph from Greek mythology, flees the woods to find a "happier star" (i.e., another planet) where mythological beings are treated with more respect.
  • The Naiad, a water nymph, is "torn" from "her flood" and the elf from "the green grass." Both creatures get kicked out of the places they belong.

  Through these allusions, the speaker aims to illustrate how science makes the world a less magical place. Sure, it explains how the natural world functions—but, in the speaker's mind, this explanation comes at a dear cost.

  There's another possible (though not definite) allusion in the poem. Lines 2 and 3 might be subtly nodding to the myth of Prometheus, a famous figure from Greek myth who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. Zeus punished Prometheus by having him bound to a rock and sending an eagle to eat his liver every day (the organ would grow back so the ritual could take place again and again).

  When the speaker says that science is a vulture that preys "upon the poet's heart," this might be a subtle allusion to Prometheus's fate. The poet becomes Prometheus here, gifting humanity inspiration and beauty through their work only for science to swoop in and pluck out the poet's heart.

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• Apostrophe

  

  
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• Alliteration

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

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• Rhetorical Question

  

  

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"Sonnet to Science" Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Thou art
• Alterest
• Thy
• Preyest
• Thee
• Wouldst
• Deem thee
• Undaunted
• Hast thou
• Diana
• Car
• Hamadryad
• Naiad
• Elfin
• Tamarind tree

• You are.

  • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Sonnet to Science”

• Form

  "Sonnet to Science" is, of course, a sonnet. More specifically, it's a Shakespearean sonnet. this means that it consists of three quatrains (four-line stanzas) and a closing couplet.

  In Shakespearean sonnets, that couplet typically responds in some way to the previous quatrains. The moment when a sonnet switches gears is called its turn or volta; here, that volta starts in line 13, when the speaker shifts from talking about science's effect on poetry and imagination in general to its effect on the speaker specifically. In the poem's final moments, the speaker turns inward and admits that science has stolen their own "dream."

  The sonnet is one of the most enduring and popular poetic forms. Coupled with the speaker's use of apostrophe, this makes this a very poem-y poem. It's as though the speaker subtly demonstrates poetry's worth not just by arguing against science's influence, but by relying on classic features of poetry to make their case.

• Meter

  "Sonnet to Science" uses iambic pentameter, the standard meter of Shakespearean sonnets. A line of iambic pentameter consists of 10 syllables that follow an unstressed-stressed beat pattern (da-DUM; each of these da-DUMs is one iamb).

  For example, here's line 7:

  To seek | for trea- | sure in | the jew- | elled skies,

  Iambic pentameter creates a steady beat that mimics the sound of spoken English. Of course, Poe uses lots of variation to keep "Sonnet to Science" interesting and to add emphasis to certain moments.

  For example, lines 1 and 4 both start with trochees (the opposite of iambs, DUM-da):

  Science! | true daughter [...]
  Vulture, | whose wings [...]

  These lines sound more forceful and dramatic, and the heaviness of those opening beats conveys the damaging power of science. It's as though science imposes itself on the poem, upending its metrical flow.

• Rhyme Scheme

  "Sonnet to Science" uses the typical rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet—almost. Each quatrain follows an alternating pattern and the poem then wraps up with two rhymes in a row:

  ABAB BDBD EFEF GG

  There is a subtle twist here, however: the first rhyme of the second quatrain ("wise") relies on the same sound as the previous line ("realities"); these are those "B" rhymes noted above. This is a minor variation, but it does make the speaker's language sound somewhat more repetitive and insistent.

  The rhymes gently propel the poem forward, adding force to the speaker's questioning of science. Rhyming, of course, is a distinctive feature of poetry, and using them here subtly makes clear where the speaker's allegiances lie in the creativity vs. science debate.

“Sonnet to Science” Speaker

• The speaker doesn't reveal much about their specific identity (readers never learn their age or gender, for example), but it's clear that they're a creative person who believes that science represents an existential threat to the wonders of the human imagination.

  The poem's range of allusions to mythology and folklore (e.g., the Roman goddess Diana in line 9 and the Greek water nymph in line 12) also suggest that the speaker is a well-read individual. They feel that the imagination offers insights and wonder that scientific knowledge, with its facts and figures, can't.

  In line 13, an interesting twist occurs: the speaker uses the first-person pronoun "me." This suggests that the speaker has skin in the game—that they, themselves, are one of those poets whose "heart" science preys on.

“Sonnet to Science” Setting

• Readers might picture the poem's speaker daydreaming beneath a "tamarind tree" while thinking about all the ways science has driven magic and wonder from the world. Beyond that, though, "Sonnet to Science" doesn't have a specific setting apart from that of a generally modern world.

  The speaker's world is one threatened (in the speaker's mind, at least) by cold, rational science. The time of myth and legend has passed; ancient goddesses, elves, and nymphs have been driven from the land.

  Knowing the poem's context also enriches its meaning. Poe wrote this poem during the Industrial Revolution, a time of rapid societal change and urbanization. He thus witnessed the world-shaking effects of science and technology first-hand.

Literary and Historical Context of “Sonnet to Science”

• Literary Context

  Though perhaps best known for macabre short stories like "The Tell-Tale Heart," poetry was Edgar Allan Poe's first love. "Sonnet to Science" appeared in Poe's collection Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, published in 1829.

  Poe is also considered a major figure in the American Romantic movement, the influence of which is clear in "Sonnet to Science." The Romantics, both in the U.S. and abroad, celebrated the overwhelming beauty of nature, the power of the individual, and the glory of the past. They generally distrusted industrialization and the strict focus on reason championed by the Age of Enlightenment. Where earlier Enlightenment-era writers like Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift aspired to elegant phrasings and satirical wit, the Romantics preferred to write passionate verse that valued the mysteries and terrors of the imagination over crisp rationality.

  Despite the scientific criticism apparent in this poem, however, Poe was fascinated by subjects like astronomy and physics. In his later work, "Eureka: A Prose Poem," Poe even anticipates later theories on the nature of the universe.

  Historical Context

  The Romantic movement was a backlash against both the earlier Age of Enlightenment and the contemporaneous Industrial Revolution.

  The period when Poe was writing was marked by huge scientific advances, but also by what the later Romantics saw as a bit too much reason. Where earlier Renaissance scholars and artists tried to know a little bit about everything, Enlightenment thinkers were categorizers and organizers, increasingly interested in sharp divisions between disciplines.

  Meanwhile, rapid industrialization across the U.S. and Europe reshaped landscapes, working and living conditions, and the way people interacted with one another. As the countryside began to disappear beneath expanding cities and filthy factories, Romantic artists tried to remind readers that nature was full of irreplaceable beauty and wisdom—qualities that can't be commodified.

More “Sonnet to Science” Resources

• External Resources

  • Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems — Read the full collection in which "Sonnet to Science" appears.  

  • The Poem Out Loud — Hear "Sonnet to Science" read aloud.

  • Poe's Life and Work — Listen to this informative BBC podcast about Poe, which includes contributions from renowned biographer Peter Ackroyd.  

  • "How Edgar Allan Poe Exposed Scientific Hoaxes—And Perpetrated Them" — Check out a podcast on Poe's complicated relationship with science.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

  • A Dream Within a Dream

  • Alone

  • Annabel Lee

  • The Conqueror Worm

  • To Helen