Nott
Blest soul, that, loosen'd from those bands, art flown--Bands than which Nature never form'd more fair,Look down and mark how changed to carking careFrom gladdest thoughts I pass my days unknown.Each false opinion from my heart is gone,That once to me made thy sweet sight appearMost harsh and bitter; now secure from fearHere turn thine eyes, and listen to my moan.Turn to this rock whence Sorga's waters rise,And mark, where through the mead its waters flow,One who of thee still mindful ceaseless sighs:But leave me there unsought for, where to glowOur flames began, and where thy mansion lies,Lest thou in thine shouldst see what grieved thee so.
Words in this poem
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- carking a.
- Distressing; worrying; perplexing; corroding; as, carking cares.
- mindful a.
- Bearing in mind; regardful; attentive; heedful; observant.
- ceaseless a.
- Without pause or end; incessant.
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
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-32.html, id L14903.
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 91%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 29% 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 flownA · fairB · careB · unknownA · goneA · appearB · fearB · moanA · riseC · flowD · sighsC · glowD · liesC · soD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Blest soul, that, loosen'd from those bands, art flown-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Bands than which Nature never form'd more fair, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Look down and mark how changed to carking care | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| From gladdest thoughts I pass my days unknown. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Each false opinion from my heart is gone, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| That once to me made thy sweet sight appear | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Most harsh and bitter; now secure from fear | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Here turn thine eyes, and listen to my moan. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Turn to this rock whence Sorga's waters rise, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And mark, where through the mead its waters flow, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| One who of thee still mindful ceaseless sighs: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| But leave me there unsought for, where to glow | 10 | ·········· |
| Our flames began, and where thy mansion lies, | 10 | /·˘/···/˘· |
| Lest thou in thine shouldst see what grieved thee so. | 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.