Nott
When from the east appears the purple rayOf morn arising, and salutes the eyesThat wear the night in watching for the day,Thus speaks my heart: "In yonder opening skies,In yonder fields of bliss, my Laura lies!"Thou sun, that know'st to wheel thy burning car,Each eve, to the still surface of the deep,And there within thy Thetis' bosom sleep;Oh! could I thus my Laura's presence share,How would my patient heart its sorrows bear!Adored in life, and honour'd in the dust,She that in this fond breast for ever reignsHas pass'd the gulph of death!--To deck that bust,No trace of her but the sad name remains.
Words in this poem
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- laura n.
- A number of hermitages or cells in the same neighborhood occupied by anchorites who were under the same superior. C. Kingsley.
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-31.html, id L14875.
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%). 100% 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 rayA · eyesB · dayB · skiesA · liesA · carB · deepB · sleepA · shareC · bearD · dustC · reignsD · bustC · remainsD
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 from the east appears the purple ray | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Of morn arising, and salutes the eyes | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| That wear the night in watching for the day, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thus speaks my heart: "In yonder opening skies, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| In yonder fields of bliss, my Laura lies!" | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Thou sun, that know'st to wheel thy burning car, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Each eve, to the still surface of the deep, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And there within thy Thetis' bosom sleep; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Oh! could I thus my Laura's presence share, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| How would my patient heart its sorrows bear! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Adored in life, and honour'd in the dust, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| She that in this fond breast for ever reigns | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Has pass'd the gulph of death!--To deck that bust, | 10 | ·········· |
| No trace of her but the sad name remains. | 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.