Capel Lofft
The bad oppresses me, the worse dismays,To which so broad and plain a path I see;My spirit, to like frenzy led with thee,Tried by the same hard thoughts, in dotage strays,Nor knows if peace or war of God it prays,Though great the loss and deep the shame to me.But why pine longer? Best our lot will be,What Heaven's high will ordains when man obeys.Though I of that great honour worthless proveOffer'd by thee--herein Love leads to errWho often makes the sound eye to see wrong--My counsel this, instant on Heaven aboveThy soul to elevate, thy heart to spur,For though the time be short, the way is long.
Words in this poem
- dotage n.
- Feebleness or imbecility of understanding or mind, particularly in old age; the childishness of old age; senility; as, a venerable man, now in his dotage. [From Dote, v. i.]
- 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.]
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-7.html, id L14809.
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 90%). 89% 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 dismaysA · seeB · theeB · straysA · praysA · meB · beB · obeysA · proveC · errD · wrongC · aboveD · spurC · longD
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 bad oppresses me, the worse dismays, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| To which so broad and plain a path I see; | 10 | ·········· |
| My spirit, to like frenzy led with thee, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Tried by the same hard thoughts, in dotage strays, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Nor knows if peace or war of God it prays, | 10 | ·········· |
| Though great the loss and deep the shame to me. | 10 | ·········· |
| But why pine longer? Best our lot will be, | 10 | ···/˘·/··· |
| What Heaven's high will ordains when man obeys. | 11 | ·/˘··˘/··˘/ |
| Though I of that great honour worthless prove | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Offer'd by thee--herein Love leads to err | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Who often makes the sound eye to see wrong-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| My counsel this, instant on Heaven above | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/·· |
| Thy soul to elevate, thy heart to spur, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For though the time be short, the way is long. | 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.