Love hath so long possessed me for his own
Love hath so long possessed me for his ownAnd made his lordship so familiarThat he, who at first irked me, is now grownUnto my heart as its best secrets are.And thus, when he in such sore wise doth marMy life that all its strength seems gone from it,Mine inmost being then feels throughly quitOf anguish, and all evil keeps afar.Love also gathers to such power in meThat my sighs speak, each one a grievous thing,Always solicitingMy lady’s salutation piteously.Whenever she beholds me, it is so,Who is more sweet than any words can show.
Words in this poem
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Love hath so long possessed me for his own 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, Love hath so long possessed me for his own, in The New Life (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41085, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dante-vita-nuova/love-hath-so-long-possessed-me-for-his-own.html, id L27051.
Form and metre
Love hath so long possessed me for his own is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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-ABBCCB-DD-EE ownA · familiar · grownA · areB · marB · itC · quitC · afarB · me · thingD · solicitingD · piteously · soE · showE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Love hath so long possessed me for his own | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| And made his lordship so familiar | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| That he, who at first irked me, is now grown | 10 | ·········· |
| Unto my heart as its best secrets are. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And thus, when he in such sore wise doth mar | 10 | ·········· |
| My life that all its strength seems gone from it, | 10 | ·········· |
| Mine inmost being then feels throughly quit | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Of anguish, and all evil keeps afar. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Love also gathers to such power in me | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/·· |
| That my sighs speak, each one a grievous thing, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Always soliciting | 6 | /·˘/˘˘ |
| My lady’s salutation piteously. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Whenever she beholds me, it is so, | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/···· |
| Who is more sweet than any words can show. | 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.