He Vehemently Rebuts the Charge of Loving Another
Perdie! I said it not,Nor never thought to do:As well as I, ye wotI have no power thereto.And if I did, the lotThat first did me enchainMay never slake the knot,But strait it to my pain.
And if I did, each thingThat may do harm or woe,Continually may wringMy heart, where so I go!Report may always ringOf shame on me for aye,If in my heart did springThe words that you do say.
And if I did, each starThat is in heaven above,May frown on me, to marThe hope I have in love!And if I did, such warAs they brought unto Troy,Bring all my life afarFrom all his lust and joy!
And if I did so say,The beauty that me boundIncrease from day to day,More cruel to my wound!With all the moan that mayTo plaint may turn my song;My life may soon decay,Without redress, by wrong!
If I be clear from thought,Why do you then complain?Then is this thing but soughtTo turn my heart to pain.Then this that you have wrought,You must it now redress;Of right, therefore, you oughtSuch rigour to repress.
And as I have deserved,So grant me now my hire;You know I never swerved,You never found me liar.For Rachel have I served,For Leah cared I never;And her I have reservedWithin my heart for ever.
Words in this poem
- enchain v. t.
- To bind with a chain; to hold in chains. [F. enchaîner; pref. en- (L. in) chaîne chain. See Chain, and cf. Incatenation.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- plaint n.
- Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint; hence, a mournful song; a lament. Chaucer."The Psalmist's mournful plaint." [OE. plainte, pleynte, F. plainte, fr. L. plangere, planctum (plancta, fem. p.p.), to beat, beat the breast, lament. Cf. Complain, Plague, Plangent.]
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- rigour n.
- Rigidity; stiffness. [L. See Rigor., below.]
- liar n.
- A person who knowingly utters falsehood; one who lies. [OE. liere. See Lie to falsify.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
He Vehemently Rebuts the Charge of Loving Another 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 Vehemently Rebuts the Charge of Loving Another, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/he-vehemently-rebuts-the-charge-of-loving-another.html, id L14754.
Form and metre
He Vehemently Rebuts the Charge of Loving Another is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABACAC, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 A---ABAB notA · do · wot · thereto · lotA · enchainB · knotA · painB
- 2 ABABA-A- thingA · woeB · wringA · goB · ringA · aye · springA · say
- 3 ABAB-CAC starA · aboveB · marA · loveB · war · troyC · afarA · joyC
- 4 ABABACAC sayA · boundB · dayA · woundB · mayA · songC · decayA · wrongC
- 5 ABABACAC thoughtA · complainB · soughtA · painB · wroughtA · redressC · oughtA · repressC
- 6 ABABACAC deservedA · hireB · swervedA · liarB · servedA · neverC · reservedA · everC
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Perdie! I said it not, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Nor never thought to do: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As well as I, ye wot | 6 | ······ |
| I have no power thereto. | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| And if I did, the lot | 6 | ······ |
| That first did me enchain | 6 | ····˘/ |
| May never slake the knot, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But strait it to my pain. | 6 | ······ |
| And if I did, each thing | 6 | ······ |
| That may do harm or woe, | 6 | ······ |
| Continually may wring | 7 | ˘/˘˘˘·· |
| My heart, where so I go! | 6 | ······ |
| Report may always ring | 6 | ˘/·/·· |
| Of shame on me for aye, | 6 | ······ |
| If in my heart did spring | 6 | ······ |
| The words that you do say. | 6 | ······ |
| And if I did, each star | 6 | ······ |
| That is in heaven above, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| May frown on me, to mar | 6 | ······ |
| The hope I have in love! | 6 | ······ |
| And if I did, such war | 6 | ······ |
| As they brought unto Troy, | 6 | ······ |
| Bring all my life afar | 6 | ····˘/ |
| From all his lust and joy! | 6 | ······ |
| And if I did so say, | 6 | ······ |
| The beauty that me bound | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Increase from day to day, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| More cruel to my wound! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| With all the moan that may | 6 | ······ |
| To plaint may turn my song; | 6 | ······ |
| My life may soon decay, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Without redress, by wrong! | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| If I be clear from thought, | 6 | ······ |
| Why do you then complain? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Then is this thing but sought | 6 | ······ |
| To turn my heart to pain. | 6 | ······ |
| Then this that you have wrought, | 6 | ······ |
| You must it now redress; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Of right, therefore, you ought | 6 | ······ |
| Such rigour to repress. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And as I have deserved, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| So grant me now my hire; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| You know I never swerved, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| You never found me liar. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| For Rachel have I served, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For Leah cared I never; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And her I have reserved | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Within my heart for ever. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.