He Asks from a Friend the Loan of the Works of St. Augustin
If Love or Death no obstacle entwineWith the new web which here my fingers fold,And if I 'scape from beauty's tyrant holdWhile natural truth with truth reveal'd I join,Perchance a work so double will be mineBetween our modern style and language old,That (timidly I speak, with hope though bold)Even to Rome its growing fame may shine:But, since, our labour to perfect at lastSome of the blessed threads are absent yetWhich our dear father plentifully met,Wherefore to me thy hands so close and fastAgainst their use? Be prompt of aid and free,And rich our harvest of fair things shall be.
Words in this poem
- entwine v. t.
- To twine, twist, or wreathe together or round. [Pref. en- + twine. Cf. Intwine.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
He Asks from a Friend the Loan of the Works of St. Augustin 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, He Asks from a Friend the Loan of the Works of St. Augustin, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/he-asks-from-a-friend-the-loan-of-the-works-of-st-augustin.html, id L14526.
Form and metre
He Asks from a Friend the Loan of the Works of St. Augustin 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%). 87% 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 entwineA · foldB · holdB · joinA · mineA · oldB · boldB · shineA · lastC · yetD · metC · fastD · freeC · beD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If Love or Death no obstacle entwine | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| With the new web which here my fingers fold, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And if I 'scape from beauty's tyrant hold | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| While natural truth with truth reveal'd I join, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Perchance a work so double will be mine | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Between our modern style and language old, | 10 | ··//˘··/˘· |
| That (timidly I speak, with hope though bold) | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Even to Rome its growing fame may shine: | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| But, since, our labour to perfect at last | 10 | ··//˘·˘/·· |
| Some of the blessed threads are absent yet | 10 | ····˘··/˘· |
| Which our dear father plentifully met, | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| Wherefore to me thy hands so close and fast | 10 | /˘········ |
| Against their use? Be prompt of aid and free, | 10 | ·········· |
| And rich our harvest of fair things shall be. | 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.