He Complains That to Him Alone Is Faith Hurtful
Could I, in melting verse, my thoughts but throw,As in my heart their living load I bear,No soul so cruel in the world was e'erThat would not at the tale with pity glow.But ye, blest eyes, which dealt me the sore blow,'Gainst which nor helm nor shield avail'd to spareWithin, without, behold me poor and bare,Though never in laments is breathed my woe.But since on me your bright glance ever shines,E'en as a sunbeam through transparent glass,Suffice then the desire without the lines.Faith Peter bless'd and Mary, but, alas!It proves an enemy to me alone,Whose spirit save by you to none is known.
Words in this poem
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
He Complains That to Him Alone Is Faith Hurtful 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 Complains That to Him Alone Is Faith Hurtful, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/he-complains-that-to-him-alone-is-faith-hurtful.html, id L14599.
Form and metre
He Complains That to Him Alone Is Faith Hurtful 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%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 14% 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 throwA · bearB · e'erB · glowA · blowA · spareB · bareB · woeA · shinesC · glassD · linesC · alasD · aloneC · knownD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Could I, in melting verse, my thoughts but throw, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As in my heart their living load I bear, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| No soul so cruel in the world was e'er | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That would not at the tale with pity glow. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But ye, blest eyes, which dealt me the sore blow, | 10 | ·········· |
| 'Gainst which nor helm nor shield avail'd to spare | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Within, without, behold me poor and bare, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Though never in laments is breathed my woe. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| But since on me your bright glance ever shines, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| E'en as a sunbeam through transparent glass, | 10 | ···/··˘/˘· |
| Suffice then the desire without the lines. | 10 | ˘/··˘/···· |
| Faith Peter bless'd and Mary, but, alas! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| It proves an enemy to me alone, | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| Whose spirit save by you to none is known. | 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.