Morehead
'Tis sweet, though sad, my trembling thoughts to raise,As memory dwells upon that form so dear,And think that now e'en angels join to praiseThe gentle virtues that adorn'd her here;That face, that look, in fancy to behold--To hear that voice that did with music vie--The bending head, crown'd with its locks of gold--All, all that charm'd, now but sad thoughts supply.How had I lived her bitter loss to weep,If that pure spirit, pitying my woe,Had not appear'd to bless my troubled sleep,Ere memory broke upon the world below?What pure, what gentle greetings then were mine!In what attention wrapt she paused to hearMy life's sad course, of which she bade me speak!But as the dawn from forth the East did shineBack to that heaven to which her way was clear,She fled,--while falling tears bedew'd each cheek.
Words in this poem
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Morehead 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, Morehead, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/morehead-6.html, id L14968.
Form and metre
Morehead is 18 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGBHGBH. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGBHGBH raiseA · dearB · praiseA · hereB · beholdC · vieD · goldC · supplyD · weepE · woeF · sleepE · belowF · mineG · hearB · speakH · shineG · clearB · cheekH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Tis sweet, though sad, my trembling thoughts to raise, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As memory dwells upon that form so dear, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And think that now e'en angels join to praise | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The gentle virtues that adorn'd her here; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| That face, that look, in fancy to behold-- | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To hear that voice that did with music vie-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The bending head, crown'd with its locks of gold-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| All, all that charm'd, now but sad thoughts supply. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| How had I lived her bitter loss to weep, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| If that pure spirit, pitying my woe, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Had not appear'd to bless my troubled sleep, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Ere memory broke upon the world below? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| What pure, what gentle greetings then were mine! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| In what attention wrapt she paused to hear | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| My life's sad course, of which she bade me speak! | 10 | ·········· |
| But as the dawn from forth the East did shine | 10 | ·········· |
| Back to that heaven to which her way was clear, | 10 | ···/······ |
| She fled,--while falling tears bedew'd each cheek. | 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.