Her Presence in Visions Is His Only Consolation
Death, thou of fairest face hast 'reft the hue,And quench'd in deep thick night the brightest eyes,And loosed from all its tenderest, closest tiesA spirit to faith and ardent virtue true.In one short hour to all my bliss adieu!Hush'd are those accents worthy of the skies,Unearthly sounds, whose loss awakes my sighs;And all I hear is grief, and all I view.Yet oft, to soothe this lone and anguish'd heart,By pity led, she comes my couch to seek,Nor find I other solace here below:And if her thrilling tones my strain could speakAnd look divine, with Love's enkindling dartNot man's sad breast alone, but fiercest beasts should glow.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- unearthly a.
- Not terrestrial; supernatural; preternatural; hence, weird; appalling; terrific; as, an unearthly sight or sound.
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
- thrilling a.
- Causing a thrill; causing tremulous excitement; deeply moving; as, a thrilling romance.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Her Presence in Visions Is His Only Consolation 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, Her Presence in Visions Is His Only Consolation, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/her-presence-in-visions-is-his-only-consolation.html, id L14862.
Form and metre
Her Presence in Visions Is His Only Consolation 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 94%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 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 hueA · eyesB · tiesB · trueA · adieuA · skiesB · sighsB · viewA · heartC · seekD · belowC · speakD · dartC · glowD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Death, thou of fairest face hast 'reft the hue, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And quench'd in deep thick night the brightest eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And loosed from all its tenderest, closest ties | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| A spirit to faith and ardent virtue true. | 10 | ·/···/˘/˘· |
| In one short hour to all my bliss adieu! | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| Hush'd are those accents worthy of the skies, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Unearthly sounds, whose loss awakes my sighs; | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/·· |
| And all I hear is grief, and all I view. | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet oft, to soothe this lone and anguish'd heart, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| By pity led, she comes my couch to seek, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Nor find I other solace here below: | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And if her thrilling tones my strain could speak | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And look divine, with Love's enkindling dart | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Not man's sad breast alone, but fiercest beasts should glow. | 12 | ····˘/·/˘··· |
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.