Sonnet X
In order to restrain this mad desire,Impossible and rash, and thus to missThe fall from danger's crag, ah, if for thisMy proud thoughts, blind with what they most admire,Still fail to see what safety would require,Me as I am, too timid or too bold,In such confusion that I dare not holdThe reins of that which sets my soul on fire;What can it serve to see the pictured taleOf him who, falling with scorched wings, gave nameAnd celebration to the Icarian seas;Or that where (poplars now) seven maids bewailTheir Phaëton's past frenzy, and the flameWhose rage the' Italian waves could scarce appease?
Words in this poem
- crag n.
- The neck or throat [A form of craw: cf. D. kraag neck, collar, G. kragen. See Craw.]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- pictured a.
- Furnished with pictures; represented by a picture or pictures; as, a pictured scene.
- icarian a.
- Soaring too high for safety, like Icarus; adventurous in flight.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet X is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Garcilasso de la Vega, Project Gutenberg ebook #49410, the J. H. Wiffen 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: Garcilaso de la Vega, Sonnet X, in The Works of Garcilasso de la Vega (1823), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49410, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/garcilaso-works/sonnet-x.html, id L18713.
Form and metre
Sonnet X is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABB-ACCADEFDEF desireA · missB · thisB · admire · requireA · boldC · holdC · fireA · taleD · nameE · seasF · bewailD · flameE · appeaseF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In order to restrain this mad desire, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/˘ |
| Impossible and rash, and thus to miss | 10 | ˘/˘˘······ |
| The fall from danger's crag, ah, if for this | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| My proud thoughts, blind with what they most admire, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Still fail to see what safety would require, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Me as I am, too timid or too bold, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In such confusion that I dare not hold | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| The reins of that which sets my soul on fire; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| What can it serve to see the pictured tale | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Of him who, falling with scorched wings, gave name | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And celebration to the Icarian seas; | 12 | ··˘/˘··˘/˘˘· |
| Or that where (poplars now) seven maids bewail | 10 | ···/˘·/·˘/ |
| Their Phaëton's past frenzy, and the flame | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Whose rage the' Italian waves could scarce appease? | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
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.