Apology by Paradox
The Devil's not so ugly as they paint;He's well with all, compact of courtesy:Real heroism is real piety:Before small truth great falsehoods shrink and faintIf pots stain worse than pipkins, it were quaintTo charge the pipkins with impurity:Freedom I crave: who craves not to be free?Yet life that must be feigned for, leaves a taint.Ill conduct brings repentance?--If you prateThis wise to me, why prate not thus to allPhilosophers and prophets, and to Christ?Not too much learning, as some arrogate,But the small brains of dullards have sufficedTo make us wretched and the world enthrall.
Words in this poem
- heroism n.
- The qualities characteristic of a hero, as courage, bravery, fortitude, unselfishness, etc.; the display of such qualities. [F. héroïsme.]
- quaint a.
- Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- arrogate v. t.
- To assume, or claim as one's own, unduly, proudly, or presumptuously; to make undue claims to, from vanity or baseless pretensions to right or merit; as, the pope arrogated dominion over kings. [L. arrogatus, p. p. of adrogare, arrogare, to ask, appropriate to one's self; ad + rogare to ask. See Rogation.]
- enthrall v. t.
- To hold in thrall; to enslave. See Inthrall. [Pref. en- + thrall. Cf. Inthrall.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Apology by Paradox is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella, Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, the John Addington Symonds translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Tommaso Campanella, Apology by Paradox, in Sonnets (1878), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campanella-sonnets/apology-by-paradox.html, id L27852.
Form and metre
Apology by Paradox is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A--AA--ABCDBDC paintA · courtesy · piety · faintA · quaintA · impurity · free · taintA · prateB · allC · christD · arrogateB · sufficedD · enthrallC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The Devil's not so ugly as they paint; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| He's well with all, compact of courtesy: | 10 | ····˘/·/˘˘ |
| Real heroism is real piety: | 10 | ·/˘·˘··/˘˘ |
| Before small truth great falsehoods shrink and faint | 10 | ·····/···· |
| If pots stain worse than pipkins, it were quaint | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To charge the pipkins with impurity: | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Freedom I crave: who craves not to be free? | 10 | /˘········ |
| Yet life that must be feigned for, leaves a taint. | 10 | ·········· |
| Ill conduct brings repentance?--If you prate | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| This wise to me, why prate not thus to all | 10 | ·········· |
| Philosophers and prophets, and to Christ? | 10 | ˘/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Not too much learning, as some arrogate, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But the small brains of dullards have sufficed | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To make us wretched and the world enthrall. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.