Anon. 1777
Most fortunate and fair of spots terrene!Where Love I saw her forward footstep stay,And turn on me her bright eyes' heavenly ray,Which round them make the atmosphere serene.A solid form of adamant, I ween,Would sooner shrink in lapse of time away,Than from my mind that sweet salute decay,Dear to my heart, in memory ever green.And oft as I return to view this spot,In its fair scenes I'll fondly stoop to seekWhere yet the traces of her light foot lie.But if in valorous heart Love sleepeth not,Whene'er you meet her, friend, for me bespeakSome passing tears, perchance one pitying sigh.
Words in this poem
- terrene n.
- A tureen. Walpole.
- ween v. i.
- To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
- valorous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting valor; brave; courageous; valiant; intrepid. [Cf. F. valeureux, LL. valorosus.]
- bespeak v. t.
- To speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage against a future time; as, to bespeak goods, a right, or a favor. [OE. bispeken, AS. besprecan, to speak to, accuse; pref. be- + sprecan to speak. See Speak.]
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Anon. 1777 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, the various hands 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: Petrarch, Anon. 1777, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/anon-1777.html, id L14619.
Form and metre
Anon. 1777 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDCDCD, the pattern of the Italian sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other Italian sonnets, 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 ABBAABBACDCDCD terreneA · stayB · rayB · sereneA · weenA · awayB · decayB · greenA · spotC · seekD · lieC · notD · bespeakC · sighD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Most fortunate and fair of spots terrene! | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| Where Love I saw her forward footstep stay, | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| And turn on me her bright eyes' heavenly ray, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Which round them make the atmosphere serene. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| A solid form of adamant, I ween, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Would sooner shrink in lapse of time away, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Than from my mind that sweet salute decay, | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| Dear to my heart, in memory ever green. | 10 | ·····/˘˘/· |
| And oft as I return to view this spot, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| In its fair scenes I'll fondly stoop to seek | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Where yet the traces of her light foot lie. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But if in valorous heart Love sleepeth not, | 11 | ···/˘˘··/˘· |
| Whene'er you meet her, friend, for me bespeak | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Some passing tears, perchance one pitying sigh. | 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.