For certain he hath seen all perfectness
For certain he hath seen all perfectnessWho among other ladies hath seen mine:They that go with her humbly should combineTo thank their God for such peculiar grace.So perfect is the beauty of her faceThat it begets in no wise any signOf envy, but draws round her a clear lineOf love, and blessed faith, and gentleness.Merely the sight of her makes all things bow:Not she herself alone is holierThan all; but hers, through her, are raised above.From all her acts such lovely graces flowThat truly one may never think of herWithout a passion of exceeding love.
Words in this poem
- perfectness n.
- The quality or state of being perfect; perfection.
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For certain he hath seen all perfectness is in the public domain. This text is taken from The New Life, Project Gutenberg ebook #41085, the Dante Gabriel Rossetti 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: Dante Alighieri, For certain he hath seen all perfectness, in The New Life (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41085, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dante-vita-nuova/for-certain-he-hath-seen-all-perfectness.html, id L27050.
Form and metre
For certain he hath seen all perfectness is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 -AABBAABC-DC-D perfectness · mineA · combineA · graceB · faceB · signA · lineA · gentlenessB · bowC · holier · aboveD · flowC · her · loveD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| For certain he hath seen all perfectness | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Who among other ladies hath seen mine: | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| They that go with her humbly should combine | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To thank their God for such peculiar grace. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| So perfect is the beauty of her face | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| That it begets in no wise any sign | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Of envy, but draws round her a clear line | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Of love, and blessed faith, and gentleness. | 10 | ····˘··/˘˘ |
| Merely the sight of her makes all things bow: | 10 | /˘········ |
| Not she herself alone is holier | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/˘˘ |
| Than all; but hers, through her, are raised above. | 10 | ·········· |
| From all her acts such lovely graces flow | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| That truly one may never think of her | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Without a passion of exceeding love. | 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.