He Consoles Himself with the Thought That He Will Be Envied by Posterity
Sweet scorn, sweet anger, and sweet misery,Forgiveness sweet, sweet burden, and sweet ill;Sweet accents that mine ear so sweetly thrill,That sweetly bland, now sweetly fierce can be.Mourn not, my soul, but suffer silently;And those embitter'd sweets thy cup that fillWith the sweet honour blend of loving stillHer whom I told: "Thou only pleasest me."Hereafter, moved with envy, some may say:"For that high-boasted beauty of his dayEnough the bard has borne!" then heave a sigh.Others: "Oh! why, most hostile Fortune, whyCould not these eyes that lovely form survey?Why was she early born, or wherefore late was I?"
Sweet anger, sweet disdain, and peace as sweet,Sweet ill, sweet pain, sweet burthen that I bear,Sweet speech as sweetly heard; sweet speech, my fair!That now enflames my soul, now cools its heat.Patient, my soul! endure the wrongs you meet;And all th' embitter'd sweets you're doomed to shareBlend with that sweetest bliss, the maid to greetIn these soft words, "Thou only art my care!"Haply some youth shall sighing envious say,"Enough has borne the bard so fond, so true,For that bright beauty, brightest of his day!"While others cry, "Sad eyes! how hard your fate,Why could I ne'er this matchless beauty view?Why was she born so soon, or I so late?"
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- 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,]
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
He Consoles Himself with the Thought That He Will Be Envied by Posterity 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 Consoles Himself with the Thought That He Will Be Envied by Posterity, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/he-consoles-himself-with-the-thought-that-he-will-be-envied-by-posterity.html, id L26260.
Form and metre
He Consoles Himself with the Thought That He Will Be Envied by Posterity is 28 lines in 2 stanzas of 14 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBAABBACDCDCD, the Italian sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 miseryA · illB · thrillB · beA · silentlyA · fillB · stillB · meA · sayC · dayD · sighC · whyD · surveyC · iD
- 2 ABBAABBACDCDCD sweetA · bearB · fairB · heatA · meetA · shareB · greetB · careA · sayC · trueD · dayC · fateD · viewC · lateD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet scorn, sweet anger, and sweet misery, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Forgiveness sweet, sweet burden, and sweet ill; | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Sweet accents that mine ear so sweetly thrill, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| That sweetly bland, now sweetly fierce can be. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Mourn not, my soul, but suffer silently; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| And those embitter'd sweets thy cup that fill | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| With the sweet honour blend of loving still | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Her whom I told: "Thou only pleasest me." | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Hereafter, moved with envy, some may say: | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| "For that high-boasted beauty of his day | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Enough the bard has borne!" then heave a sigh. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Others: "Oh! why, most hostile Fortune, why | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| Could not these eyes that lovely form survey? | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Why was she early born, or wherefore late was I?" | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| Sweet anger, sweet disdain, and peace as sweet, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Sweet ill, sweet pain, sweet burthen that I bear, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sweet speech as sweetly heard; sweet speech, my fair! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That now enflames my soul, now cools its heat. | 10 | ·········· |
| Patient, my soul! endure the wrongs you meet; | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| And all th' embitter'd sweets you're doomed to share | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Blend with that sweetest bliss, the maid to greet | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In these soft words, "Thou only art my care!" | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Haply some youth shall sighing envious say, | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| "Enough has borne the bard so fond, so true, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| For that bright beauty, brightest of his day!" | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| While others cry, "Sad eyes! how hard your fate, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Why could I ne'er this matchless beauty view? | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Why was she born so soon, or I so late?" | 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.