Laura's Unparalleled Beauty and Virtue
The stars, the elements, and Heaven have madeWith blended powers a work beyond compare;All their consenting influence, all their care,To frame one perfect creature lent their aid.Whence Nature views her loveliness display'dWith sun-like radiance sublimely fair:Nor mortal eye can the pure splendour bear:Love, sweetness, in unmeasured grace array'd.The very air illumed by her sweet beamsBreathes purest excellence; and such delightThat all expression far beneath it gleams.No base desire lives in that heavenly light,Honour alone and virtue!--fancy's dreamsNever saw passion rise refined by rays so bright.
Words in this poem
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- sublimely adv.
- In a sublime manner.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Laura's Unparalleled Beauty and Virtue 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, Laura's Unparalleled Beauty and Virtue, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/laura-s-unparalleled-beauty-and-virtue.html, id L14679.
Form and metre
Laura's Unparalleled Beauty and Virtue 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. 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 madeA · compareB · careB · aidA · display'dA · fairB · bearB · array'dA · beamsC · delightD · gleamsC · lightD · dreamsC · brightD
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 stars, the elements, and Heaven have made | 10 | ···/˘˘·/·· |
| With blended powers a work beyond compare; | 10 | ·/˘/····˘/ |
| All their consenting influence, all their care, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| To frame one perfect creature lent their aid. | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Whence Nature views her loveliness display'd | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| With sun-like radiance sublimely fair: | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/˘· |
| Nor mortal eye can the pure splendour bear: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Love, sweetness, in unmeasured grace array'd. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| The very air illumed by her sweet beams | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Breathes purest excellence; and such delight | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| That all expression far beneath it gleams. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| No base desire lives in that heavenly light, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Honour alone and virtue!--fancy's dreams | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Never saw passion rise refined by rays so bright. | 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.