Nott
Ne'er to the son, in whom her age is blest,The anxious mother--nor to her loved lordThe wedded dame, impending ill to ward,With careful sighs so faithful counsel press'd,As she, who, from her high eternal rest,Bending--as though my exile she deplored--With all her wonted tenderness restored,And softer pity on her brow impress'd!Now with a mother's fears, and now as oneWho loves with chaste affection, in her speechShe points what to pursue and what to shun!Our years retracing of long, various grief,Wooing my soul at higher good to reach,And while she speaks, my bosom finds relief!
Words in this poem
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- wonted a.
- Accustomed; customary; usual.
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-30.html, id L14866.
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 92%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 21% 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 blestA · lordB · wardB · press'dA · restA · deploredB · restoredB · impress'dA · oneC · speechD · shunC · griefD · reachC · reliefD
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 to the son, in whom her age is blest, | 10 | ·········· |
| The anxious mother--nor to her loved lord | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| The wedded dame, impending ill to ward, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| With careful sighs so faithful counsel press'd, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| As she, who, from her high eternal rest, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Bending--as though my exile she deplored-- | 10 | /˘···/··˘/ |
| With all her wonted tenderness restored, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| And softer pity on her brow impress'd! | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Now with a mother's fears, and now as one | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Who loves with chaste affection, in her speech | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| She points what to pursue and what to shun! | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Our years retracing of long, various grief, | 10 | /·˘/˘··/˘· |
| Wooing my soul at higher good to reach, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| And while she speaks, my bosom finds relief! | 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.