Dacre
Father of heaven! despite my days all lost,Despite my nights in doting folly spentWith that fierce passion which my bosom rentAt sight of her, too lovely for my cost;Vouchsafe at length that, by thy grace, I turnTo wiser life, and enterprise more fair,So that my cruel foe, in vain his snareSet for my soul, may his defeat discern.Already, Lord, the eleventh year circling wanesSince first beneath his tyrant yoke I fellWho still is fiercest where we least rebel:Pity my undeserved and lingering pains,To holier thoughts my wandering sense restore,How on this day his cross thy Son our Saviour bore.
Words in this poem
- doting a.
- That dotes; silly; excessively fond.
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dacre 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, Dacre, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/dacre-2.html, id L14558.
Form and metre
Dacre 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 81%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 43% 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 lostA · spentB · rentB · costA · turnA · fairB · snareB · discernA · wanesC · fellD · rebelC · painsD · restoreC · boreD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Father of heaven! despite my days all lost, | 10 | /˘·/˘/···· |
| Despite my nights in doting folly spent | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
| With that fierce passion which my bosom rent | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| At sight of her, too lovely for my cost; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Vouchsafe at length that, by thy grace, I turn | 10 | ˘/········ |
| To wiser life, and enterprise more fair, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| So that my cruel foe, in vain his snare | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Set for my soul, may his defeat discern. | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| Already, Lord, the eleventh year circling wanes | 12 | ˘/˘··/˘˘·/˘· |
| Since first beneath his tyrant yoke I fell | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Who still is fiercest where we least rebel: | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Pity my undeserved and lingering pains, | 10 | /˘··˘/·/˘· |
| To holier thoughts my wandering sense restore, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| How on this day his cross thy Son our Saviour bore. | 12 | ········//˘· |
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.