Capel Lofft
Tears, bitter tears adown my pale cheek rain,Bursts from mine anguish'd breast a storm of sighs,Whene'er on you I turn my passionate eyes,For whom alone this bright world I disdain.True! to my ardent wishes and old painThat mild sweet smile a peaceful balm supplies,Rescues me from the martyr fire that tries,Rapt and intent on you whilst I remain;Thus in your presence--but my spirits freezeWhen, ushering with fond acts a warm adieu,My fatal stars from life's quench'd heaven decay.My soul released at last with Love's apt keysBut issues from my heart to follow you,Nor tears itself without much thought away.
Words in this poem
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
- rapt n.
- An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Capel Lofft 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, Capel Lofft, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/capel-lofft-2.html, id L14491.
Form and metre
Capel Lofft 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 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 21% 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 rainA · sighsB · eyesB · disdainA · painA · suppliesB · triesB · remainA · freezeC · adieuD · decayC · keysD · youC · awayD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tears, bitter tears adown my pale cheek rain, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Bursts from mine anguish'd breast a storm of sighs, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Whene'er on you I turn my passionate eyes, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| For whom alone this bright world I disdain. | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| True! to my ardent wishes and old pain | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| That mild sweet smile a peaceful balm supplies, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Rescues me from the martyr fire that tries, | 10 | /····/˘/·· |
| Rapt and intent on you whilst I remain; | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Thus in your presence--but my spirits freeze | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| When, ushering with fond acts a warm adieu, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| My fatal stars from life's quench'd heaven decay. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘/ |
| My soul released at last with Love's apt keys | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| But issues from my heart to follow you, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Nor tears itself without much thought away. | 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.