Nott
Go, melancholy rhymes! your tribute bringTo that cold stone, which holds the dear remainsOf all that earth held precious;--uttering,If heaven should deign to hear them, earthly strains.Tell her, that sport of tempests, fit no moreTo stem the troublous ocean,--here at lastHer votary treads the solitary shore;His only pleasure to recall the past.Tell her, that she who living ruled his fate,In death still holds her empire: all his care,So grant the Muse her aid,--to celebrateHer every word, and thought, and action fair.Be this my meed, that in the hour of deathHer kindred spirit may hail, and bless my parting breath!
Words in this poem
- deign v. t.
- To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice; -- opposed to disdain. [OE. deinen, deignen, OF. degner, deigner, daigner, F. daigner, fr. L. dignari to deem worthy, deign, fr. dignus worthy; akin to decere to be fitting. See Decent]
- troublous a.
- Full of trouble; causing trouble.
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
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-36.html, id L14950.
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 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% 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 bringA · remainsB · utteringB · strainsA · moreA · lastB · shoreB · pastA · fateC · careD · celebrateC · fairD · deathC · breathD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Go, melancholy rhymes! your tribute bring | 10 | ·/˘·˘··/˘· |
| To that cold stone, which holds the dear remains | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Of all that earth held precious;--uttering, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| If heaven should deign to hear them, earthly strains. | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| Tell her, that sport of tempests, fit no more | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To stem the troublous ocean,--here at last | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Her votary treads the solitary shore; | 11 | ·/˘˘··/˘·˘· |
| His only pleasure to recall the past. | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Tell her, that she who living ruled his fate, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In death still holds her empire: all his care, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| So grant the Muse her aid,--to celebrate | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Her every word, and thought, and action fair. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Be this my meed, that in the hour of death | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Her kindred spirit may hail, and bless my parting breath! | 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.