His Only Comfort Is the Expectation of Meeting Her Again in Heaven
The brightest eyes, the most resplendent faceThat ever shone; and the most radiant hair,With which nor gold nor sunbeam could compare;The sweetest accent, and a smile all grace;Hands, arms, that would e'en motionless abaseThose who to Love the most rebellious were;Fine, nimble feet; a form that would appearLike that of her who first did Eden trace;These fann'd life's spark: now heaven, and all its choirOf angel hosts those kindred charms admire;While lone and darkling I on earth remain.Yet is not comfort fled; she, who can readEach secret of my soul, shall intercede;And I her sainted form behold again.
Words in this poem
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- rebellious a.
- Engaged in rebellion; disposed to rebel of the nature of rebels or of rebellion; resisting government or lawful authority by force.
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
- 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,]
- intercede v. i.
- To pass between; to intervene. [L. intercedere, intercessum; inter between + cedere to pass: cf. F. intercéder. See Cede.]
- sainted a.
- Consecrated; sacred; holy; pious.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
His Only Comfort Is the Expectation of Meeting Her Again in Heaven 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, His Only Comfort Is the Expectation of Meeting Her Again in Heaven, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/his-only-comfort-is-the-expectation-of-meeting-her-again-in-.html, id L14976.
Form and metre
His Only Comfort Is the Expectation of Meeting Her Again in Heaven 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 89%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends 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 faceA · hairB · compareB · graceA · abaseA · wereB · appearB · traceA · choirC · admireD · remainC · readD · intercedeC · againD
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 brightest eyes, the most resplendent face | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| That ever shone; and the most radiant hair, | 10 | ·/····/˘˘· |
| With which nor gold nor sunbeam could compare; | 10 | ·····/··˘/ |
| The sweetest accent, and a smile all grace; | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| Hands, arms, that would e'en motionless abase | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Those who to Love the most rebellious were; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Fine, nimble feet; a form that would appear | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Like that of her who first did Eden trace; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| These fann'd life's spark: now heaven, and all its choir | 11 | ·····/···/˘ |
| Of angel hosts those kindred charms admire; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| While lone and darkling I on earth remain. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Yet is not comfort fled; she, who can read | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Each secret of my soul, shall intercede; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And I her sainted form behold again. | 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.