He Is Never Weary of Praising the Eyes of Laura
The bright eyes which so struck my fenceless sideThat they alone which harm'd can heal the smartBeyond or power of herbs or magic art,Or stone which oceans from our shores divide,The chance of other love have so deniedThat one sweet thought alone contents my heart,From following which if ne'er my tongue depart,Pity the guided though you blame the guide.These are the bright eyes which, in every landBut most in its own shrine, my heart, adored,Have spread the triumphs of my conquering lord;These are the same bright eyes which ever standBurning within me, e'en as vestal fires,In singing which my fancy never tires.
Words in this poem
- fenceless a.
- Without a fence; uninclosed; open; unguarded; defenseless.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- vestal a.
- Of or pertaining to Vesta, the virgin goddess of the hearth; hence, pure; chaste. [L. Vestalis belonging to Vesta, vestal. See Vesta.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
He Is Never Weary of Praising the Eyes 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 Never Weary of Praising the Eyes 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-never-weary-of-praising-the-eyes-of-laura.html, id L14572.
Form and metre
He Is Never Weary of Praising the Eyes 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 86%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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 sideA · smartB · artB · divideA · deniedA · heartB · departB · guideA · landC · adoredD · lordC · standD · firesC · tiresD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The bright eyes which so struck my fenceless side | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That they alone which harm'd can heal the smart | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Beyond or power of herbs or magic art, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Or stone which oceans from our shores divide, | 10 | ···/˘·/·˘/ |
| The chance of other love have so denied | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| That one sweet thought alone contents my heart, | 10 | ····˘/˘/·· |
| From following which if ne'er my tongue depart, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Pity the guided though you blame the guide. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| These are the bright eyes which, in every land | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But most in its own shrine, my heart, adored, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Have spread the triumphs of my conquering lord; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| These are the same bright eyes which ever stand | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Burning within me, e'en as vestal fires, | 11 | /˘·····/˘/˘ |
| In singing which my fancy never tires. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
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.