He Desires Only That Memmi Had Been Able to Impart Speech to His Portrait of Laura
When, at my word, the high thought fired his mind,Within that master-hand which placed the pen,Had but the painter, in his fair work, thenLanguage and intellect to beauty join'd,Less 'neath its care my spirit since had pined,Which worthless held what still pleased other men;And yet so mild she seems that my fond kenOf peace sees promise in that aspect kind.When further communing I hold with herBenignantly she smiles, as if she heardAnd well could answer to mine every word:But far o'er mine thy pride and pleasure were,Bright, warm and young, Pygmalion, to have press'dThine image long and oft, while mine not once has blest.
When Simon at my wish the proud designConceived, which in his hand the pencil placed,Had he, while loveliness his picture graced,But added speech and mind to charms divine;What sighs he then had spared this breast of mine:That bliss had given to higher bliss distaste:For, when such meekness in her look was traced,'Twould seem she soon to kindness might incline.But, urging converse with the portray'd fair,Methinks she deigns attention to my prayer,Though wanting to reply the power of voice.What praise thyself, Pygmalion, hast thou gain'd;Forming that image, whence thou hast obtain'dA thousand times what, once obtain'd, would me rejoice.
Words in this poem
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- meekness n.
- The quality or state of being meek.
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
He Desires Only That Memmi Had Been Able to Impart Speech to His Portrait of Laura 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 Desires Only That Memmi Had Been Able to Impart Speech to His Portrait of Laura, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/he-desires-only-that-memmi-had-been-able-to-impart-speech-to-his-portrait-of-laura.html, id L26256.
Form and metre
He Desires Only That Memmi Had Been Able to Impart Speech to His Portrait of Laura 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 mindA · penB · thenB · join'dA · pinedA · menB · kenB · kindA · herC · heardD · wordC · wereD · press'dC · blestD
- 2 ABBAABBACDCDCD designA · placedB · gracedB · divineA · mineA · distasteB · tracedB · inclineA · fairC · prayerD · voiceC · gain'dD · obtain'dC · rejoiceD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When, at my word, the high thought fired his mind, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Within that master-hand which placed the pen, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Had but the painter, in his fair work, then | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Language and intellect to beauty join'd, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Less 'neath its care my spirit since had pined, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Which worthless held what still pleased other men; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And yet so mild she seems that my fond ken | 10 | ·········· |
| Of peace sees promise in that aspect kind. | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| When further communing I hold with her | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘···· |
| Benignantly she smiles, as if she heard | 10 | ·········· |
| And well could answer to mine every word: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But far o'er mine thy pride and pleasure were, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Bright, warm and young, Pygmalion, to have press'd | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thine image long and oft, while mine not once has blest. | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| When Simon at my wish the proud design | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Conceived, which in his hand the pencil placed, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Had he, while loveliness his picture graced, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| But added speech and mind to charms divine; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| What sighs he then had spared this breast of mine: | 10 | ·········· |
| That bliss had given to higher bliss distaste: | 10 | ···/·/˘·˘/ |
| For, when such meekness in her look was traced, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| 'Twould seem she soon to kindness might incline. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| But, urging converse with the portray'd fair, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··˘/· |
| Methinks she deigns attention to my prayer, | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘··· |
| Though wanting to reply the power of voice. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/·· |
| What praise thyself, Pygmalion, hast thou gain'd; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Forming that image, whence thou hast obtain'd | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| A thousand times what, once obtain'd, would me rejoice. | 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.