On the Announcement of the Death of Laura (Anon., Ox., 1795)
Alas! that touching glance, that beauteous face!Alas! that dignity with sweetness fraught!Alas! that speech which tamed the wildest thought!That roused the coward, glory to embrace!Alas! that smile which in me did encaseThat fatal dart, whence here I hope for nought--Oh! hadst thou earlier our regions sought,The world had then confess'd thy sovereign grace!In thee I breathed, life's flame was nursed by thee,For I was thine; and since of thee bereaved,Each other woe hath lost its venom'd sting:My soul's blest joy! when last thy voice on meIn music fell, my heart sweet hope conceived;Alas! thy words have sped on zephyrs' wings!
Words in this poem
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- 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.]
- encase v. t.
- To inclose as in a case. See Incase. Beau. & Fl. [Cf. Enchase.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Announcement of the Death of Laura (Anon., Ox., 1795) 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, On the Announcement of the Death of Laura (Anon., Ox., 1795), in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/on-the-announcement-of-the-death-of-laura-anon-ox-1795.html, id L14839.
Form and metre
On the Announcement of the Death of Laura (Anon., Ox., 1795) 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%).
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 faceA · fraughtB · thoughtB · embraceA · encaseA · noughtB · soughtB · graceA · theeC · bereavedD · stingC · meD · conceivedC · wingsD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alas! that touching glance, that beauteous face! | 11 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘· |
| Alas! that dignity with sweetness fraught! | 10 | ˘/·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Alas! that speech which tamed the wildest thought! | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| That roused the coward, glory to embrace! | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Alas! that smile which in me did encase | 10 | ˘/······˘/ |
| That fatal dart, whence here I hope for nought-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Oh! hadst thou earlier our regions sought, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| The world had then confess'd thy sovereign grace! | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| In thee I breathed, life's flame was nursed by thee, | 10 | ·········· |
| For I was thine; and since of thee bereaved, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Each other woe hath lost its venom'd sting: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| My soul's blest joy! when last thy voice on me | 10 | ·········· |
| In music fell, my heart sweet hope conceived; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Alas! thy words have sped on zephyrs' wings! | 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.