Macgregor
When memory turns to gaze on time gone by(Which in its flight hath arm'd e'en thought with wings),And to my troubled rest a period brings,Quells, too, the flame which long could ice defy;And when I mark Love's promise wither'd lie,That treasure parted which my bosom wrings(For she in heaven, her shrine to nature clings),Whilst thus my toils' reward she doth deny;--I then awake and feel bereaved indeed!The darkest fate on earth seems bliss to mine--So much I fear myself, and dread its woe!O Fortune!--Death! O star! O fate decreed!O bitter day! that yet must sweetly shine,Alas! too surely thou hast laid me low!
Words in this poem
- defy v. t.
- To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce. [F. défier, OF. deffier, desfier, LL. disfidare to disown faith or fidelity, to dissolve the bond of allegiance, as between the vassal and his lord; hence, to ch]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Macgregor 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, Macgregor, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/macgregor-31.html, id L14890.
Form and metre
Macgregor 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 93%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 14% 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 byA · wingsB · bringsB · defyA · lieA · wringsB · clingsB · denyA · indeedC · mineD · woeC · decreedD · shineC · lowD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When memory turns to gaze on time gone by | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| (Which in its flight hath arm'd e'en thought with wings), | 10 | ·········· |
| And to my troubled rest a period brings, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Quells, too, the flame which long could ice defy; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And when I mark Love's promise wither'd lie, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| That treasure parted which my bosom wrings | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| (For she in heaven, her shrine to nature clings), | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Whilst thus my toils' reward she doth deny;-- | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| I then awake and feel bereaved indeed! | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘/ |
| The darkest fate on earth seems bliss to mine-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| So much I fear myself, and dread its woe! | 10 | ·····/···· |
| O Fortune!--Death! O star! O fate decreed! | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| O bitter day! that yet must sweetly shine, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Alas! too surely thou hast laid me low! | 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.