Basil Kennet
So weary am I 'neath the constant thrallOf mine own vile heart, and the false world's taint,That much I fear while on the way to faint,And in the hands of my worst foe to fall.Well came, ineffably, supremely kind,A friend to free me from the guilty bond,But too soon upward flew my sight beyond,So that in vain I strive his track to find;But still his words stamp'd on my heart remain,All ye who labour, lo! the way in me;Come unto me, nor let the world detain!Oh! that to me, by grace divine, were givenWings like a dove, then I away would flee,And be at rest, up, up from earth to heaven!
Words in this poem
- ineffably adv.
- In a manner not to be expressed in words; unspeakably.
- supremely adv.
- In a supreme manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Basil Kennet 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, Basil Kennet, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/basil-kennet-2.html, id L14579.
Form and metre
Basil Kennet 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 87%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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 thrallA · taintB · faintB · fallA · kindA · bondB · beyondB · findA · remainC · meD · detainC · givenD · fleeC · heavenD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| So weary am I 'neath the constant thrall | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Of mine own vile heart, and the false world's taint, | 10 | ·········· |
| That much I fear while on the way to faint, | 10 | ·········· |
| And in the hands of my worst foe to fall. | 10 | ·········· |
| Well came, ineffably, supremely kind, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘˘/˘· |
| A friend to free me from the guilty bond, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But too soon upward flew my sight beyond, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| So that in vain I strive his track to find; | 10 | ·········· |
| But still his words stamp'd on my heart remain, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| All ye who labour, lo! the way in me; | 10 | ···/······ |
| Come unto me, nor let the world detain! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Oh! that to me, by grace divine, were given | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| Wings like a dove, then I away would flee, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And be at rest, up, up from earth to heaven! | 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.