Capel Lofft
The stars, the heaven, the elements, I ween,Put forth their every art and utmost careIn that bright light, as fairest Nature fair,Whose like on earth the sun has nowhere seen;So noble, elegant, unique her mien,Scarce mortal glance to rest on it may dare,Love so much softness and such graces rareShowers from those dazzling and resistless een.The atmosphere, pervaded and made pureBy their sweet rays, kindles with goodness so,Thought cannot equal it nor language show.Here no ill wish, no base desires endure,But honour, virtue. Here, if ever yet,Has lust his death from supreme beauty met.
Words in this poem
- 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]
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
- unique a.
- Being without a like or equal; unmatched; unequaled; unparalleled; single in kind or excellence; sole. [F. unique; cf. It. unico; from L. unicus, from unus one. See One.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- resistless a.
- Having no power to resist; making no opposition.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
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-5.html, id L14680.
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 85%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 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 weenA · careB · fairB · seenA · mienA · dareB · rareB · eenA · pureC · soD · showC · endureD · yetC · metD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The stars, the heaven, the elements, I ween, | 10 | ···/·/˘˘·· |
| Put forth their every art and utmost care | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| In that bright light, as fairest Nature fair, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Whose like on earth the sun has nowhere seen; | 10 | ·······/·· |
| So noble, elegant, unique her mien, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/·· |
| Scarce mortal glance to rest on it may dare, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Love so much softness and such graces rare | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Showers from those dazzling and resistless een. | 10 | /··/˘·˘/˘· |
| The atmosphere, pervaded and made pure | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| By their sweet rays, kindles with goodness so, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Thought cannot equal it nor language show. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Here no ill wish, no base desires endure, | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| But honour, virtue. Here, if ever yet, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Has lust his death from supreme beauty met. | 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.