Again has Time his annual circle run,
And April ushers in my natal day:
Since first my infant eyes beheld the sun,
How many a year has swiftly roll'd away!
Full half my thread of life the Fates have spun;
What various colours does the web display!
Some dark, some brighter; ere the work be done
The sadder hues will overshade the gay.
Yet not to Melancholy will I yield;
Against Despondency and Discontent
Still Fortitude and Hope shall keep the field;
Swerving from thee, O Virtue! I repent;
Now! to repel Temptation I am steel'd;
To follow thee I'm resolutely bent.
In a well-developed paragraph of at least five sentences, discuss how the poem's meaning is connected to the poet's choice of form.
Identify the poem as a sonnet or a villanelle.
Explain how the form, rhyme scheme, and other traits affect the poem's meaning.
Describe the tone of the poem and provide textual support.
Use academic language in your response.