Song, ’tis my will that thou do seek out Love
Song, ’tis my will that thou do seek out Love,And go with him where my dear lady is;That so my cause, the which thy harmoniesDo plead, his better speech may clearly prove.Thou goest, my Song, in such a courteous kind,That even companionlessThou mayst rely on thyself anywhere.And yet, an thou wouldst get thee a safe mind,First unto Love addressThy steps; whose aid, mayhap, ’twere ill to spare,Seeing that she to whom thou mak’st thy prayerIs, as I think, ill-minded unto me,And that if Love do not companion thee,Thou’lt have perchance small cheer to tell me of.
With a sweet accent, when thou com’st to her,Begin thou in these words,First having craved a gracious audience:“He who hath sent me as his messenger,Lady, thus much records,An thou but suffer him, in his defence.Love, who comes with me, by thine influenceCan make this man do as it liketh him:Wherefore, if this fault _is_ or doth but _seem_Do thou conceive: for his heart cannot move.”
Say to her also: “Lady, his poor heartIs so confirmed in faithThat all its thoughts are but of serving thee:’Twas early thine, and could not swerve apart.”Then, if she wavereth,Bid her ask Love, who knows if these things be.And in the end, beg of her modestlyTo pardon so much boldness: saying too:—“If thou declare his death to be thy due,The thing shall come to pass, as doth behove.”
Then pray thou of the Master of all ruth,Before thou leave her there,That he befriend my cause and plead it well.“In guerdon of my sweet rhymes and my truth”(Entreat him) “stay with her;Let not the hope of thy poor servant fail;And if with her thy pleading should prevail,Let her look on him and give peace to him.”Gentle my Song, if good to thee it seem,Do this: so worship shall be thine and love.
Words in this poem
- companionless a.
- Without a companion.
- mayhap adv.
- Perhaps; peradventure. [Prov. or Dialectic]
- defence n.
- The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. [F. défense, OF. defense, fem., defens, masc., fr. L. defensa (cf. Fence.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- modestly adv.
- In a modest manner.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- behove v.
- , and derivatives. See Behoove, & c.
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- befriend v. t.
- To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance.
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
- entreat v. t.
- To treat, or conduct toward; to deal with; to use. [OE. entreten to treat, request, OF. entraiter to treat of; pref. en- (L. in) + traitier to treat. See Treat.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song, ’tis my will that thou do seek out Love 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, Song, ’tis my will that thou do seek out Love, in The New Life (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41085, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dante-vita-nuova/song-tis-my-will-that-thou-do-seek-out-love.html, id L27039.
Form and metre
Song, ’tis my will that thou do seek out Love is 44 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
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 ABBACDECDEEFFA loveA · isB · harmoniesB · proveA · kindC · companionlessD · anywhereE · mindC · addressD · spareE · prayerE · meF · theeF · ofA
- 2 --A--AA--- her · words · audienceA · messenger · records · defenceA · influenceA · him · _seem · move
- 3 ABCABC-DD- heartA · faithB · theeC · apartA · waverethB · beC · modestly · tooD · dueD · behove
- 4 A--A-BB--- ruthA · there · well · truthA · her · failB · prevailB · him · seem · love
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Song, ’tis my will that thou do seek out Love, | 10 | ·········· |
| And go with him where my dear lady is; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That so my cause, the which thy harmonies | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Do plead, his better speech may clearly prove. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thou goest, my Song, in such a courteous kind, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That even companionless | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Thou mayst rely on thyself anywhere. | 10 | ··˘/·˘//˘· |
| And yet, an thou wouldst get thee a safe mind, | 10 | ·········· |
| First unto Love address | 6 | ····/· |
| Thy steps; whose aid, mayhap, ’twere ill to spare, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Seeing that she to whom thou mak’st thy prayer | 10 | /˘········ |
| Is, as I think, ill-minded unto me, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And that if Love do not companion thee, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Thou’lt have perchance small cheer to tell me of. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| With a sweet accent, when thou com’st to her, | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Begin thou in these words, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| First having craved a gracious audience: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| “He who hath sent me as his messenger, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Lady, thus much records, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| An thou but suffer him, in his defence. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Love, who comes with me, by thine influence | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Can make this man do as it liketh him: | 10 | ·········· |
| Wherefore, if this fault _is_ or doth but _seem_ | 10 | /˘········ |
| Do thou conceive: for his heart cannot move.” | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Say to her also: “Lady, his poor heart | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Is so confirmed in faith | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| That all its thoughts are but of serving thee: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| ’Twas early thine, and could not swerve apart.” | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Then, if she wavereth, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Bid her ask Love, who knows if these things be. | 10 | ·········· |
| And in the end, beg of her modestly | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| To pardon so much boldness: saying too:— | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| “If thou declare his death to be thy due, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| The thing shall come to pass, as doth behove.” | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Then pray thou of the Master of all ruth, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Before thou leave her there, | 6 | ······ |
| That he befriend my cause and plead it well. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| “In guerdon of my sweet rhymes and my truth” | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| (Entreat him) “stay with her; | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Let not the hope of thy poor servant fail; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And if with her thy pleading should prevail, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Let her look on him and give peace to him.” | 10 | ·········· |
| Gentle my Song, if good to thee it seem, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Do this: so worship shall be thine and love. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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