Giovanni Boccaccio: I am young and fain to sing
I am young and fain to singIn this happy tide of springOf love and many a gentle thing.
I wander through green meadows dightWith blossoms gold and red and white ;Rose by the thorn and lily fair,Both one and all I do compareWith him who, worshipping my charms,For aye would fold me in his armsAs one unto his service sworn.
Then, when I find a flower that seemsLike to the object of my dreams,I gather it and kiss it there,I flatter it in accents fair,My heart outpour, my soul stoop down,Then weave it in a fragrant crownAmong my flaxen locks to wear.
The rapture nature's floweret gayAwakes in me doth last alway.As if I tarried face to faceWith him whose true love is my grace ;Thoughts which its fragrancy inspiresI cannot frame to my desires,My sighs their pilgrimage do trace.
My sighs are neither harsh nor sadAs other women's are, but gladAnd tender ; in so fond a wiseThey seek my love that he repliesBy coming hither, and so givesDelight to her who in him livesYet almost wept : " Come, for hope dies.'
Words in this poem
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- dight v. t.
- To prepare; to put in order; hence, to dress, or put on; to array; to adorn. [OF. dihten, AS. dihtan to dictate, command, dispose, arrange, fr. L. dictare to say often, dictate, order; cf. G. dichten to write poetry, fr. L. dictare. See D]
- outpour n.
- A flowing out; a free discharge.
- flaxen a.
- Made of flax; resembling flax or its fibers; of the color of flax; of a light soft straw color; fair and flowing, like flax or tow; as, flaxen thread; flaxen hair.
- floweret n.
- A small flower; a floret.
- fragrancy n.
- The quality of being fragrant; sweetness of smell; a sweet smell; a pleasing odor; perfume. [L. fragrantia: cf. OF. fragrance.]
- pilgrimage n.
- The journey of a pilgrim; a long journey; especially, a journey to a shrine or other sacred place. Fig., the journey of human life. [OE. pilgrimage, pelgrinage; cf. F. pèlerinage.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Giovanni Boccaccio: I am young and fain to sing is in the public domain. This text is taken from An Anthology of Italian Poems, 13th to 19th Century, Selected & Translated by Lorna de' Lucchi, Internet Archive, the Lorna de' Lucchi 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: Various, Giovanni Boccaccio: I am young and fain to sing, in An Anthology of Italian Poems (Selections), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/italian-anthology-de-lucchi/giovanni-boccaccio-i-am-young-and-fain-to-sing.html, id L26486.
Form and metre
Giovanni Boccaccio: I am young and fain to sing is 31 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 71% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AAA singA · springA · thingA
- 2 AABBCC- dightA · whiteA · fairB · compareB · charmsC · armsC · sworn
- 3 AABBCCB seemsA · dreamsA · thereB · fairB · downC · crownC · wearB
- 4 --AA--A gay · alway · faceA · graceA · inspires · desires · traceA
- 5 AABBCCB sadA · gladA · wiseB · repliesB · givesC · livesC · diesB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I am young and fain to sing | 7 | ······· |
| In this happy tide of spring | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Of love and many a gentle thing. | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| I wander through green meadows dight | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| With blossoms gold and red and white ; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Rose by the thorn and lily fair, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Both one and all I do compare | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With him who, worshipping my charms, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| For aye would fold me in his arms | 8 | ········ |
| As one unto his service sworn. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then, when I find a flower that seems | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Like to the object of my dreams, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I gather it and kiss it there, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I flatter it in accents fair, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| My heart outpour, my soul stoop down, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Then weave it in a fragrant crown | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Among my flaxen locks to wear. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The rapture nature's floweret gay | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Awakes in me doth last alway. | 8 | ˘/····/˘ |
| As if I tarried face to face | 7 | ······· |
| With him whose true love is my grace ; | 8 | ········ |
| Thoughts which its fragrancy inspires | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I cannot frame to my desires, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| My sighs their pilgrimage do trace. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| My sighs are neither harsh nor sad | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As other women's are, but glad | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And tender ; in so fond a wise | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| They seek my love that he replies | 8 | ······˘/ |
| By coming hither, and so gives | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Delight to her who in him lives | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Yet almost wept : " Come, for hope dies.' | 8 | ·/······ |
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