Death Has Robbed Him in One Moment of the Fruit of His Life
From life's long storm of trouble and of tearsLove show'd a tranquil haven and fair end'Mid better thoughts which riper age attend,That vice lays bare and virtue clothes and cheers.She saw my true heart, free from doubts and fears,And its high faith which could no more offend;Ah, cruel Death! how quick wert thou to rendIn so few hours the fruit of many years!A longer life the time had surely broughtWhen in her chaste ear my full heart had laidThe ancient burthen of its dearest thought;And she, perchance, might then have answer made,Forth-sighing some blest words, whilst white and fewOur locks became, and wan our cheeks in hue.
About this text
Death Has Robbed Him in One Moment of the Fruit of His Life 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, Death Has Robbed Him in One Moment of the Fruit of His Life, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/death-has-robbed-him-in-one-moment-of-the-fruit-of-his-life.html, id L14924.
Form and metre
Death Has Robbed Him in One Moment of the Fruit of His Life 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 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 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 tearsA · endB · attendB · cheersA · fearsA · offendB · rendB · yearsA · broughtC · laidD · thoughtC · madeD · fewC · hueD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From life's long storm of trouble and of tears | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Love show'd a tranquil haven and fair end | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| 'Mid better thoughts which riper age attend, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| That vice lays bare and virtue clothes and cheers. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| She saw my true heart, free from doubts and fears, | 10 | ·········· |
| And its high faith which could no more offend; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Ah, cruel Death! how quick wert thou to rend | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In so few hours the fruit of many years! | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| A longer life the time had surely brought | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| When in her chaste ear my full heart had laid | 10 | ·········· |
| The ancient burthen of its dearest thought; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And she, perchance, might then have answer made, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Forth-sighing some blest words, whilst white and few | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Our locks became, and wan our cheeks in hue. | 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.