On the Same Subject
Than me more joyful never reach'd the shoreA vessel, by the winds long tost and tried,Whose crew, late hopeless on the waters wide,To a good God their thanks, now prostrate, pour;Nor captive from his dungeon ever tore,Around whose neck the noose of death was tied,More glad than me, that weapon laid asideWhich to my lord hostility long bore.All ye who honour love in poet strain,To the good minstrel of the amorous layReturn due praise, though once he went astray;For greater glory is, in Heaven's blest reign,Over one sinner saved, and higher praise,Than e'en for ninety-nine of perfect ways.
Words in this poem
- dungeon n.
- A close, dark prison, commondonjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons. [OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a]
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- sinner n.
- One who has sinned; especially, one who has sinned without repenting; hence, a persistent and incorrigible transgressor; one condemned by the law of God.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Same Subject 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 Same Subject, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/on-the-same-subject.html, id L14504.
Form and metre
On the Same Subject 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 89%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 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 shoreA · triedB · wideB · pourA · toreA · tiedB · asideB · boreA · strainC · layD · astrayC · reignD · praiseC · waysD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Than me more joyful never reach'd the shore | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| A vessel, by the winds long tost and tried, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Whose crew, late hopeless on the waters wide, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To a good God their thanks, now prostrate, pour; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Nor captive from his dungeon ever tore, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Around whose neck the noose of death was tied, | 10 | ·········· |
| More glad than me, that weapon laid aside | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Which to my lord hostility long bore. | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| All ye who honour love in poet strain, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To the good minstrel of the amorous lay | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Return due praise, though once he went astray; | 10 | ˘/······˘/ |
| For greater glory is, in Heaven's blest reign, | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘·· |
| Over one sinner saved, and higher praise, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Than e'en for ninety-nine of perfect ways. | 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.