He Will Always Love Her, Though Denied the Sight of Her
Though cruelty denies my viewThose charms which led me first to love;To passion yet will I be true,Nor shall my will rebellious prove.Amid the curls of golden hairThat wave those beauteous temples round,Cupid spread craftily the snareWith which my captive heart he bound:And from those eyes he caught the rayWhich thaw'd the ice that fenced my breast,Chasing all other thoughts away,With brightness suddenly imprest.But now that hair of sunny gleam,Ah me! is ravish'd from my sight;Those beauteous eyes withdraw their beam,And change to sadness past delight.A glorious death by all is prized;Tis death alone shall break my chain:Oh! be Love's timid wail despised.Lovers should nobly suffer pain.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- rebellious a.
- Engaged in rebellion; disposed to rebel of the nature of rebels or of rebellion; resisting government or lawful authority by force.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- craftily adv.
- With craft; artfully; cunningly. [See Crafty.]
- imprest v. t.
- To advance on loan. Burke. [Pref. im- + prest: cf. It. imprestare. See Prest, n.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
He Will Always Love Her, Though Denied the Sight of Her 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 Will Always Love Her, Though Denied the Sight of Her, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/he-will-always-love-her-though-denied-the-sight-of-her.html, id L14552.
Form and metre
He Will Always Love Her, Though Denied the Sight of Her is 20 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJ. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJ viewA · loveB · trueA · proveB · hairC · roundD · snareC · boundD · rayE · breastF · awayE · imprestF · gleamG · sightH · beamG · delightH · prizedI · chainJ · despisedI · painJ
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Though cruelty denies my view | 7 | ·/˘˘/·· |
| Those charms which led me first to love; | 8 | ········ |
| To passion yet will I be true, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor shall my will rebellious prove. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Amid the curls of golden hair | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| That wave those beauteous temples round, | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| Cupid spread craftily the snare | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| With which my captive heart he bound: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And from those eyes he caught the ray | 8 | ········ |
| Which thaw'd the ice that fenced my breast, | 9 | ······˘·· |
| Chasing all other thoughts away, | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| With brightness suddenly imprest. | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| But now that hair of sunny gleam, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ah me! is ravish'd from my sight; | 8 | ········ |
| Those beauteous eyes withdraw their beam, | 9 | ·/˘˘·˘/·· |
| And change to sadness past delight. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| A glorious death by all is prized; | 10 | ·/˘˘·····˘ |
| Tis death alone shall break my chain: | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Oh! be Love's timid wail despised. | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Lovers should nobly suffer pain. | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
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.