The Philosopher
Wisdom is riches great and great estate,Far above wealth; nor are the wise unblestIf born of lineage vile or race oppressed:These by their doom sublime they illustrate.
They have their griefs for guerdon, to dilateTheir name and glory; nay, the cross, the swordMake them to be like saints or God adored;And gladness greets them in the frowns of fate:
For joys and sorrows are their dear delight;Even as a lover takes the weal and woeFelt for his lady. Such is wisdom's might.
But wealth still vexes fools; more vile they growBy being noble; and their luckless lightWith each new misadventure burns more low.
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- unblest a.
- Not blest; excluded from benediction; hence, accursed; wretched. [Pref. un- not + blessed, blest.]
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
- luckless a.
- Being without luck; unpropitious; unfortunate; unlucky; meeting with ill success or bad fortune; as, a luckless gamester; a luckless maid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Philosopher 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 Philosopher, in Sonnets (1878), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/michelangelo-sonnets/the-philosopher.html, id L15230.
Form and metre
The Philosopher is 14 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 43% 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 ABBA estateA · unblestB · oppressedB · illustrateA
- 2 ABBA dilateA · swordB · adoredB · fateA
- 3 A-A delightA · woe · mightA
- 4 A-A growA · light · lowA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wisdom is riches great and great estate, | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| Far above wealth; nor are the wise unblest | 10 | ·········· |
| If born of lineage vile or race oppressed: | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| These by their doom sublime they illustrate. | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| They have their griefs for guerdon, to dilate | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Their name and glory; nay, the cross, the sword | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Make them to be like saints or God adored; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And gladness greets them in the frowns of fate: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| For joys and sorrows are their dear delight; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Even as a lover takes the weal and woe | 10 | /··/˘····· |
| Felt for his lady. Such is wisdom's might. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But wealth still vexes fools; more vile they grow | 10 | ·········· |
| By being noble; and their luckless light | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| With each new misadventure burns more low. | 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.