He Is Bewildered at the Unexpected Arrival of Laura
As Love his arts in haunts familiar tried,Watchful as one expecting war is found,Who all foresees and guards the passes round,I in the armour of old thoughts relied:Turning, I saw a shadow at my sideCast by the sun, whose outline on the groundI knew for hers, who--be my judgment sound--Deserves in bliss immortal to abide.I whisper'd to my heart, Nay, wherefore fear?But scarcely did the thought arise withinThan the bright rays in which I burn were here.As thunders with the lightning-flash begin,So was I struck at once both blind and mute,By her dear dazzling eyes and sweet salute.
Words in this poem
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
He Is Bewildered at the Unexpected Arrival 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 Is Bewildered at the Unexpected Arrival of Laura, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/he-is-bewildered-at-the-unexpected-arrival-of-laura.html, id L14621.
Form and metre
He Is Bewildered at the Unexpected Arrival 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 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 21% 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 triedA · foundB · roundB · reliedA · sideA · groundB · soundB · abideA · fearC · withinD · hereC · beginD · muteC · saluteD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As Love his arts in haunts familiar tried, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Watchful as one expecting war is found, | 10 | /˘··˘/˘··· |
| Who all foresees and guards the passes round, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| I in the armour of old thoughts relied: | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Turning, I saw a shadow at my side | 10 | /˘···/···· |
| Cast by the sun, whose outline on the ground | 10 | ·····/···· |
| I knew for hers, who--be my judgment sound-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Deserves in bliss immortal to abide. | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘·˘/ |
| I whisper'd to my heart, Nay, wherefore fear? | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| But scarcely did the thought arise within | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Than the bright rays in which I burn were here. | 10 | ·········· |
| As thunders with the lightning-flash begin, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| So was I struck at once both blind and mute, | 10 | ·········· |
| By her dear dazzling eyes and sweet salute. | 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.