Waiting in Faith
If through the eyes the heart speaks clear and true,I have no stronger sureties than these eyesFor my pure love. Prithee let them suffice,Lord of my soul, pity to gain from you.More tenderly perchance than is my due,Your spirit sees into my heart, where riseThe flames of holy worship, nor deniesThe grace reserved for those who humbly sue.Oh, blesséd day when you at last are mine!Let time stand still, and let noon's chariot stay;Fixed be that moment on the dial of heaven!That I may clasp and keep, by grace divine,Clasp in these yearning arms and keep for ayeMy heart's loved lord to me desertless given!
Words in this poem
- prithee interj.
- A corruption of pray thee; as, I prithee; generally used without I.
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- desertless a.
- Without desert.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Waiting in Faith 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, Waiting in Faith, in Sonnets (1878), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/michelangelo-sonnets/waiting-in-faith.html, id L15164.
Form and metre
Waiting in Faith is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% 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 AB-AABBAC-CC-C trueA · eyesB · suffice · youA · dueA · riseB · deniesB · sueA · mineC · stay · heavenC · divineC · aye · givenC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If through the eyes the heart speaks clear and true, | 10 | ·········· |
| I have no stronger sureties than these eyes | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| For my pure love. Prithee let them suffice, | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| Lord of my soul, pity to gain from you. | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| More tenderly perchance than is my due, | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/···· |
| Your spirit sees into my heart, where rise | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The flames of holy worship, nor denies | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The grace reserved for those who humbly sue. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Oh, blesséd day when you at last are mine! | 9 | ········· |
| Let time stand still, and let noon's chariot stay; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Fixed be that moment on the dial of heaven! | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·/ |
| That I may clasp and keep, by grace divine, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Clasp in these yearning arms and keep for aye | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| My heart's loved lord to me desertless given! | 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.