Nott
Ne'er from the black and tempest-troubled brineThe weary mariner fair haven sought,As shelter I from the dark restless thoughtWhereto hot wishes spur me and incline:Nor mortal vision ever light divineDazzled, as mine, in their rare splendour caughtThose matchless orbs, with pride and passion fraught,Where Love aye haunts his darts to gild and fine.Him, blind no more, but quiver'd, there I view,Naked, except so far as shame conceals,A winged boy--no fable--quick and true.What few perceive he thence to me reveals;So read I clearly in her eyes' dear lightWhate'er of love I speak, whate'er I write.
Words in this poem
- whereto adv.
- To which; -- used relatively.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Nott 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, Nott, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/nott-14.html, id L14675.
Form and metre
Nott 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 88%). 88% 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 brineA · soughtB · thoughtB · inclineA · divineA · caughtB · fraughtB · fineA · viewC · concealsD · trueC · revealsD · lightC · writeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ne'er from the black and tempest-troubled brine | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The weary mariner fair haven sought, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| As shelter I from the dark restless thought | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Whereto hot wishes spur me and incline: | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| Nor mortal vision ever light divine | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Dazzled, as mine, in their rare splendour caught | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Those matchless orbs, with pride and passion fraught, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Where Love aye haunts his darts to gild and fine. | 10 | ·········· |
| Him, blind no more, but quiver'd, there I view, | 10 | ·········· |
| Naked, except so far as shame conceals, | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| A winged boy--no fable--quick and true. | 10 | ··˘··/˘··· |
| What few perceive he thence to me reveals; | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| So read I clearly in her eyes' dear light | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Whate'er of love I speak, whate'er I write. | 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.