Weep, Lovers, sith Love’s very self doth weep
Weep, Lovers, sith Love’s very self doth weep,And sith the cause for weeping is so great;When now so many dames, of such estateIn worth, show with their eyes a grief so deep:For Death the churl has laid his leaden sleepUpon a damsel who was fair of late,Defacing all our earth should celebrate,—Yea all save virtue, which the soul doth keep.Now hearken how much Love did honour her.I myself saw him in his proper formBending above the motionless sweet dead,And often gazing into Heaven; for thereThe soul now sits which when her life was warmDwelt with the joyful beauty that is fled.
Words in this poem
- sith prep.
- Since; afterwards; seeing that. [See Since.]
- damsel n.
- A young person, either male or female, of noble or gentle extraction; as, Damsel Pepin; Damsel Richard, Prince of Wales. [OE. damosel, damesel, damisel, damsel, fr. OF. damoisele, damisele, gentlewoman, F. demoiselle young lady; cf. OF. damoisel young nobleman, F. damoiseau; fr. LL]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Weep, Lovers, sith Love’s very self doth weep 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, Weep, Lovers, sith Love’s very self doth weep, in The New Life (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41085, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dante-vita-nuova/weep-lovers-sith-love-s-very-self-doth-weep.html, id L14439.
Form and metre
Weep, Lovers, sith Love’s very self doth weep is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABBAABBA-CD-CD weepA · greatB · estateB · deepA · sleepA · lateB · celebrateB · keepA · her · formC · deadD · there · warmC · fledD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Weep, Lovers, sith Love’s very self doth weep, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And sith the cause for weeping is so great; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| When now so many dames, of such estate | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| In worth, show with their eyes a grief so deep: | 10 | ·········· |
| For Death the churl has laid his leaden sleep | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Upon a damsel who was fair of late, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Defacing all our earth should celebrate,— | 10 | ˘/˘·/··/˘· |
| Yea all save virtue, which the soul doth keep. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Now hearken how much Love did honour her. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| I myself saw him in his proper form | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
| Bending above the motionless sweet dead, | 10 | /˘···/˘˘·· |
| And often gazing into Heaven; for there | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/·· |
| The soul now sits which when her life was warm | 10 | ·········· |
| Dwelt with the joyful beauty that is fled. | 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.