Petrarch
Thou that wouldst mark, in form of human birth,All heaven and nature’s perfect skill combined,Come gaze on her, the day-star of the earth,Dazzling, not me alone, but all mankind:And haste! for Death, who spares the guilty long,First calls the brightest and the best away;And to her home, amidst the cherub throng,The angelic mortal flies, and will not stay!Haste! and each outward charm, each mental grace,In one consummate form thine eye shall trace,Model of loveliness, for earth too fair!Then thou shalt own how faint my votive lays,My spirit dazzled by perfection’s blaze:But if thou still delay, for long regret prepare.
If to the sighing breeze of summer hoursBend the green leaves; if mourns a plaintive bird;Or from some fount’s cool margin, fringed with flowers,The soothing murmur of the wave is heard;Her whom the heavens reveal, the earth denies,I see and hear: though dwelling far above,Her spirit, still responsive to my sighs,Visits the lone retreat of pensive love.“Why thus in grief consume each fruitless day,”(Her gentle accents thus benignly say,)“While from thine eyes the tear unceasing flows?Weep not for me, who, hastening on my flight,Died, to be deathless; and on heavenly lightWhose eyes but open’d, when they seem’d to close!”
Words in this poem
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- cherub n.
- A mysterious composite being, the winged footstool and chariot of the Almighty, described in Ezekiel i. and x. [Heb. kerub.]
- 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,]
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- votive a.
- Given by vow, or in fulfillment of a vow; consecrated by a vow; devoted; as, votive offerings; a votive tablet. [L. votivus, fr. votum a vow: cf. F. votif. See Vow.]
- responsive a.
- That responds; ready or inclined to respond. [Cf. F. resposif.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
- benignly adv.
- In a benign manner.
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Petrarch is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, Petrarch, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/petrarch.html, id L13459.
Form and metre
Petrarch is 28 lines in 2 stanzas of 14 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCDEEFGGF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 7% 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 ABABCDCDEEFGGF birthA · combinedB · earthA · mankindB · longC · awayD · throngC · stayD · graceE · traceE · fairF · laysG · blazeG · prepareF
- 2 ABABCDCDEEFGGF hoursA · birdB · flowersA · heardB · deniesC · aboveD · sighsC · loveD · dayE · sayE · flowsF · flightG · lightG · closeF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thou that wouldst mark, in form of human birth, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| All heaven and nature’s perfect skill combined, | 10 | ·/·/˘/··˘/ |
| Come gaze on her, the day-star of the earth, | 10 | ·········· |
| Dazzling, not me alone, but all mankind: | 10 | /˘··˘/··// |
| And haste! for Death, who spares the guilty long, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| First calls the brightest and the best away; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And to her home, amidst the cherub throng, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| The angelic mortal flies, and will not stay! | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| Haste! and each outward charm, each mental grace, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In one consummate form thine eye shall trace, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Model of loveliness, for earth too fair! | 10 | /˘·/˘˘···· |
| Then thou shalt own how faint my votive lays, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| My spirit dazzled by perfection’s blaze: | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| But if thou still delay, for long regret prepare. | 12 | ····˘/··˘/˘/ |
| If to the sighing breeze of summer hours | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Bend the green leaves; if mourns a plaintive bird; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Or from some fount’s cool margin, fringed with flowers, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| The soothing murmur of the wave is heard; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Her whom the heavens reveal, the earth denies, | 11 | ···/˘˘/··˘/ |
| I see and hear: though dwelling far above, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Her spirit, still responsive to my sighs, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Visits the lone retreat of pensive love. | 10 | /˘··˘/·/˘· |
| “Why thus in grief consume each fruitless day,” | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| (Her gentle accents thus benignly say,) | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| “While from thine eyes the tear unceasing flows? | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Weep not for me, who, hastening on my flight, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Died, to be deathless; and on heavenly light | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Whose eyes but open’d, when they seem’d to close!” | 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.