The Model and the Statue
When divine Art conceives a form and face,She bids the craftsman for his first essayTo shape a simple model in mere clay:This is the earliest birth of Art's embrace.From the live marble in the second placeHis mallet brings into the light of dayA thing so beautiful that who can sayWhen time shall conquer that immortal grace?Thus my own model I was born to be--The model of that nobler self, wheretoSchooled by your pity, lady, I shall grow.Each overplus and each deficiencyYou will make good. What penance then is dueFor my fierce heat, chastened and taught by you?
When that which is divine in us doth tryTo shape a face, both brain and hand uniteTo give, from a mere model frail and slight,Life to the stone by Art's free energy.Thus too before the painter dares to plyPaint-brush or canvas, he is wont to writeSketches on scraps of paper, and inviteWise minds to judge his figured history.So, born a model rude and mean to beOf my poor self, I gain a nobler birth,Lady, from you, you fountain of all worth!Each overplus and each deficiencyYou will make good. What penance then is dueFor my fierce heat, chastened and taught by you?
Words in this poem
- craftsman n.
- One skilled in some trade or manual occupation; an artificer; a mechanic.
- 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,]
- whereto adv.
- To which; -- used relatively.
- overplus n.
- That which remains after a supply, or beyond a quantity proposed; surplus. [Over + L. plus more. See Plus, and cf. Surplus.]
- chastened a.
- Corrected; disciplined; refined; purified; toned down. Sir. W.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Model and the Statue is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, the John Addington Symonds 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: Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Model and the Statue, in Sonnets (1878), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/michelangelo-sonnets/the-model-and-the-statue.html, id L15156.
Form and metre
The Model and the Statue is 28 lines in 2 stanzas of 14 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 54% 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 ABBAABBA----CC faceA · essayB · clayB · embraceA · placeA · dayB · sayB · graceA · be · whereto · grow · deficiency · dueC · youC
- 2 ABB-ABB-ACC-DD tryA · uniteB · slightB · energy · plyA · writeB · inviteB · history · beA · birthC · worthC · deficiency · dueD · youD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When divine Art conceives a form and face, | 10 | ·˘/·˘/···· |
| She bids the craftsman for his first essay | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| To shape a simple model in mere clay: | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| This is the earliest birth of Art's embrace. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| From the live marble in the second place | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| His mallet brings into the light of day | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A thing so beautiful that who can say | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| When time shall conquer that immortal grace? | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Thus my own model I was born to be-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The model of that nobler self, whereto | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Schooled by your pity, lady, I shall grow. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Each overplus and each deficiency | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘˘ |
| You will make good. What penance then is due | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For my fierce heat, chastened and taught by you? | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| When that which is divine in us doth try | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| To shape a face, both brain and hand unite | 10 | ········/· |
| To give, from a mere model frail and slight, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Life to the stone by Art's free energy. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Thus too before the painter dares to ply | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Paint-brush or canvas, he is wont to write | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Sketches on scraps of paper, and invite | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Wise minds to judge his figured history. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| So, born a model rude and mean to be | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of my poor self, I gain a nobler birth, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Lady, from you, you fountain of all worth! | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Each overplus and each deficiency | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘˘ |
| You will make good. What penance then is due | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For my fierce heat, chastened and taught by you? | 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.