He Extols the Beauty and Virtue of Laura
Say from what part of heaven 'twas Nature drew,From what idea, that so perfect mouldTo form such features, bidding us behold,In charms below, what she above could do?What fountain-nymph, what dryad-maid e'er threwUpon the wind such tresses of pure gold?What heart such numerous virtues can unfold?Although the chiefest all my fond hopes slew.He for celestial charms may look in vain,Who has not seen my fair one's radiant eyes,And felt their glances pleasingly beguile.How Love can heal his wounds, then wound again,He only knows, who knows how sweet her sighs,How sweet her converse, and how sweet her smile.
Words in this poem
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- chiefest a.
- First or foremost; chief; principal. [Superl. of Chief.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
He Extols the Beauty and Virtue 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 Extols the Beauty and Virtue of Laura, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/he-extols-the-beauty-and-virtue-of-laura.html, id L14687.
Form and metre
He Extols the Beauty and Virtue of Laura 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%). 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 drewA · mouldB · beholdB · doA · threwA · goldB · unfoldB · slewA · vainC · eyesD · beguileC · againD · sighsC · smileD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Say from what part of heaven 'twas Nature drew, | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| From what idea, that so perfect mould | 10 | ··˘/˘··/·· |
| To form such features, bidding us behold, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| In charms below, what she above could do? | 10 | ·········· |
| What fountain-nymph, what dryad-maid e'er threw | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Upon the wind such tresses of pure gold? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| What heart such numerous virtues can unfold? | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Although the chiefest all my fond hopes slew. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| He for celestial charms may look in vain, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Who has not seen my fair one's radiant eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And felt their glances pleasingly beguile. | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| How Love can heal his wounds, then wound again, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| He only knows, who knows how sweet her sighs, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| How sweet her converse, and how sweet her smile. | 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.