Canzone IX
Lady, in your bright eyesSoft glancing round, I mark a holy light,Pointing the arduous way that heavenward lies;And to my practised sight,From thence, where Love enthroned, asserts his might,Visibly, palpably, the soul beams forth.This is the beacon guides to deeds of worth,And urges me to seek the glorious goal;This bids me leave behind the vulgar throng,Nor can the human tongueTell how those orbs divine o'er all my soulExert their sweet control,Both when hoar winter's frosts around are flung,And when the year puts on his youth again,Jocund, as when this bosom first knew pain.
Oh! if in that high sphere,From whence the Eternal Ruler of the starsIn this excelling work declared his might,All be as fair and bright,Loose me from forth my darksome prison here,That to so glorious life the passage bars;Then, in the wonted tumult of my breast,I hail boon Nature, and the genial dayThat gave me being, and a fate so blest,And her who bade hope beamUpon my soul; for till then burthensomeWas life itself become:But now, elate with touch of self-esteem,High thoughts and sweet within that heart arise,Of which the warders are those beauteous eyes.
No joy so exquisiteDid Love or fickle Fortune ere devise,In partial mood, for favour'd votaries,But I would barter itFor one dear glance of those angelic eyes,Whence springs my peace as from its living root.O vivid lustre! of power absoluteO'er all my being--source of that delight,By which consumed I sink, a willing prey.As fades each lesser rayBefore your splendour more intense and bright,So to my raptured heart,When your surpassing sweetness you impart,No other thought of feeling may remainWhere you, with Love himself, despotic reign.
All sweet emotions e'erBy happy lovers felt in every clime,Together all, may not with mine compare,When, as from time to time,I catch from that dark radiance rich and deepA ray in which, disporting, Love is seen;And I believe that from my cradled sleep,By Heaven provided this resource hath been,'Gainst adverse fortune, and my nature frail.Wrong'd am I by that veil,And the fair hand which oft the light eclipse,That all my bliss hath wrought;And whence the passion struggling on my lips,Both day and night, to vent the breast o'erfraught,Still varying as I read her varying thought.
For that (with pain I find)Not Nature's poor endowments may aloneRender me worthy of a look so kind,I strive to raise my mindTo match with the exalted hopes I own,And fires, though all engrossing, pure as mine.If prone to good, averse to all things base,Contemner of what worldlings covet most,I may become by long self-discipline.Haply this humble boastMay win me in her fair esteem a place;For sure the end and aimOf all my tears, my sorrowing heart's sole claim,Were the soft trembling of relenting eyes,The generous lover's last, best, dearest prize.
My lay, thy sister-song is gone before.And now another in my teeming brainPrepares itself: whence I resume the strain.
Words in this poem 23
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
- arduous a.
- Steep and lofty, in a literal sense; hard to climb. [L. arduus steep, high; akin to Ir. ard high, height.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- exert v. t.
- To thrust forth; to emit; to push out. [L. exertus, exsertus, p.p. of exerere, exserere, to thrust out; ex out + serere to join or bind together. See Series, and cf. Exsert.]
- hoar v. t.
- To become moldy or musty. [AS. harian to grow gray.]
- jocund
- Merry; cheerful; gay; airy; lively; sportive. [L. jocundus, jucundus, orig., helpful, fr. juvare to help. See Aid.]
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
- wonted a.
- Accustomed; customary; usual.
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- elate a.
- Lifted up; raised; elevated. [L. elatus elevated, fig., elated, proud (the figure, perh., being borrowed from a prancing horse); e out + latus (used as p. p. of ferre to bear), for tlatus, a]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- resource n.
- That to which one resorts orr on which one depends for supply or support; means of overcoming a difficulty; resort; expedient. [F. ressource, fr. OF. ressourdre, resourdre, to spring forth or up again; pref. re- re- + sourdre to spring forth. See Source.]
- averse a.
- Turned away or backward. [L. aversus, p. p. of avertere. See Avert.]
- contemner n.
- One who contemns; a despiser; a scorner.
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- teeming a.
- Prolific; productive.
- resume n.
- A summing up; a condensed statement; an abridgment or brief recapitulation. [F. See Resume.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canzone IX 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, Canzone IX, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/canzone-ix.html, id L14569.
Form and metre
Canzone IX is 78 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 ABABB--C-DCCDEE eyesA · lightB · liesA · sightB · mightB · forth · worth · goalC · throng · tongueD · soulC · controlC · flungD · againE · painE
- 2 ABCCABD-DE--EFF sphereA · starsB · mightC · brightC · hereA · barsB · breastD · day · blestD · beamE · burthensome · become · esteemE · ariseF · eyesF
- 3 AB-ABCCDEEDFFGG exquisiteA · deviseB · votaries · itA · eyesB · rootC · absoluteC · delightD · preyE · rayE · brightD · heartF · impartF · remainG · reignG
- 4 -A-AB-B-CCDEDEE e'er · climeA · compare · timeA · deepB · seen · sleepB · been · frailC · veilC · eclipseD · wroughtE · lipsD · o'erfraughtE · thoughtE
- 5 ABAAB-CDBDCEEFF findA · aloneB · kindA · mindA · ownB · mine · baseC · mostD · disciplineB · boastD · placeC · aimE · claimE · eyesF · prizeF
- 6 -AA before · brainA · strainA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lady, in your bright eyes | 6 | /˘···· |
| Soft glancing round, I mark a holy light, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Pointing the arduous way that heavenward lies; | 11 | /˘·/˘··/˘˘· |
| And to my practised sight, | 6 | ······ |
| From thence, where Love enthroned, asserts his might, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Visibly, palpably, the soul beams forth. | 10 | /˘˘/˘˘···· |
| This is the beacon guides to deeds of worth, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And urges me to seek the glorious goal; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| This bids me leave behind the vulgar throng, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Nor can the human tongue | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Tell how those orbs divine o'er all my soul | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Exert their sweet control, | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| Both when hoar winter's frosts around are flung, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And when the year puts on his youth again, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Jocund, as when this bosom first knew pain. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Oh! if in that high sphere, | 6 | ······ |
| From whence the Eternal Ruler of the stars | 11 | ···˘/˘/˘··· |
| In this excelling work declared his might, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| All be as fair and bright, | 6 | ······ |
| Loose me from forth my darksome prison here, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| That to so glorious life the passage bars; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Then, in the wonted tumult of my breast, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I hail boon Nature, and the genial day | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That gave me being, and a fate so blest, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And her who bade hope beam | 6 | ······ |
| Upon my soul; for till then burthensome | 10 | ·········· |
| Was life itself become: | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| But now, elate with touch of self-esteem, | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| High thoughts and sweet within that heart arise, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Of which the warders are those beauteous eyes. | 11 | ···/˘··/˘˘· |
| No joy so exquisite | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Did Love or fickle Fortune ere devise, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| In partial mood, for favour'd votaries, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| But I would barter it | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For one dear glance of those angelic eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Whence springs my peace as from its living root. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O vivid lustre! of power absolute | 10 | ·/˘/˘·//˘· |
| O'er all my being--source of that delight, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| By which consumed I sink, a willing prey. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| As fades each lesser ray | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Before your splendour more intense and bright, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| So to my raptured heart, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When your surpassing sweetness you impart, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| No other thought of feeling may remain | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Where you, with Love himself, despotic reign. | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| All sweet emotions e'er | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| By happy lovers felt in every clime, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Together all, may not with mine compare, | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| When, as from time to time, | 6 | ······ |
| I catch from that dark radiance rich and deep | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A ray in which, disporting, Love is seen; | 10 | ·········· |
| And I believe that from my cradled sleep, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| By Heaven provided this resource hath been, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| 'Gainst adverse fortune, and my nature frail. | 10 | ·/·/˘··/˘· |
| Wrong'd am I by that veil, | 6 | ······ |
| And the fair hand which oft the light eclipse, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| That all my bliss hath wrought; | 6 | ······ |
| And whence the passion struggling on my lips, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Both day and night, to vent the breast o'erfraught, | 10 | ·········· |
| Still varying as I read her varying thought. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| For that (with pain I find) | 6 | ······ |
| Not Nature's poor endowments may alone | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Render me worthy of a look so kind, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| I strive to raise my mind | 6 | ······ |
| To match with the exalted hopes I own, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And fires, though all engrossing, pure as mine. | 10 | ·/··˘/˘··· |
| If prone to good, averse to all things base, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Contemner of what worldlings covet most, | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| I may become by long self-discipline. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘˘ |
| Haply this humble boast | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| May win me in her fair esteem a place; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| For sure the end and aim | 6 | ······ |
| Of all my tears, my sorrowing heart's sole claim, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Were the soft trembling of relenting eyes, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| The generous lover's last, best, dearest prize. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| My lay, thy sister-song is gone before. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And now another in my teeming brain | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Prepares itself: whence I resume the strain. | 10 | ˘/˘/··˘/·· |
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