She Is Moved Neither by His Verses nor His Tears
When music warbles from each thorn,And Zephyr's dewy wingsSweep the young flowers; what time the mornHer crimson radiance flings:Then, as the smiling year renews,I feel renew'd Love's tender pain;Renew'd is Laura's cold disdain;And I for comfort court the weeping muse.
Oh! could my sighs in accents flowSo musically lorn,That thou might'st catch my am'rous woe,And cease, proud Maid! thy scorn:Yet, ere within thy icy breastThe smallest spark of passion's found,Winter's cold temples shall be boundWith all the blooms that paint spring's glowing vest.
The drops that bathe the grief-dew'd eye,The love-impassion'd strainTo move thy flinty bosom tryFull oft;--but, ah! in vainWould tears, and melting song avail;As vainly might the silken breeze,That bends the flowers, that fans the trees,Some rugged rock's tremendous brow assail.
Both gods and men alike are sway'dBy Love, as poets tell;--And I, when flowers in every shadeTheir bursting gems reveal,First felt his all-subduing power:While Laura knows not yet the smart;Nor heeds the tortures of my heart,My prayers, my plaints, and sorrow's pearly shower!
Thy wrongs, my soul! with patience bear,While life shall warm this clay;And soothing sounds to Laura's earMy numbers shall convey;Numbers with forceful magic charmAll nature o'er the frost-bound earth,Wake summer's fragrant buds to birth,And the fierce serpent of its rage disarm.
The blossom'd shrubs in smiles are drest,Now laughs his purple plain;And shall the nymph a foe profestTo tenderness remain?But oh! what solace shall I find,If fortune dooms me yet to bearThe frowns of my relentless Fair,Save with soft moan to vex the pitying wind?In baffling nets the light-wing'd galeI'd fetter as it blows,The vernal rose that scents the valeI'd cull on wintery snows;Still I'd ne'er hope that mind to moveWhich dares defy the wiles of verse, and Love.
Words in this poem 15
- 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.]
- musically adv.
- In a musical manner.
- lorn a.
- Lost; undone; ruined. [Strong p. p. of Lose. See Lose, Forlorn.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- vest n.
- An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
- tremendous a.
- Fitted to excite fear or terror; such as may astonish or terrify by its magnitude, force, or violence; terrible; dreadful; as, a tremendous wind; a tremendous shower; a tremendous shock or fall. [L. tremendus that is to be trembled at, fearful, fr. tremere to tremble. See Tremble.]
- laura n.
- A number of hermitages or cells in the same neighborhood occupied by anchorites who were under the same superior. C. Kingsley.
- forceful a.
- Full of or processing force; exerting force; mighty.
- disarm v. t.
- To deprive of arms; to take away the weapons of; to deprive of the means of attack or defense; to render defenseless. [OE. desarmen, F. désarmer; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + armer to arm. See Arm.]
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
- relentless a.
- Unmoved by appeals for sympathy or forgiveness; insensible to the distresses of others; destitute of tenderness; unrelenting; unyielding; unpitying; as, a prey to relentless despotism.
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- cull v. t.
- To separate, select, or pick out; to choose and gather or collect; as, to cuil flowers. [OE., OF. cuillir, coillir, F.cueillir, to gather, pluck, pick, fr. L. colligere. See Coil, v. t., and cf. Collect.]
- defy v. t.
- To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce. [F. défier, OF. deffier, desfier, LL. disfidare to disown faith or fidelity, to dissolve the bond of allegiance, as between the vassal and his lord; hence, to ch]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
She Is Moved Neither by His Verses nor His Tears 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, She Is Moved Neither by His Verses nor His Tears, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/she-is-moved-neither-by-his-verses-nor-his-tears.html, id L14800.
Form and metre
She Is Moved Neither by His Verses nor His Tears is 54 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDDC, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABCDDC thornA · wingsB · mornA · flingsB · renewsC · painD · disdainD · museC
- 2 ABABCDDC flowA · lornB · woeA · scornB · breastC · foundD · boundD · vestC
- 3 ABABCDDC eyeA · strainB · tryA · vainB · availC · breezeD · treesD · assailC
- 4 A-A-BCCB sway'dA · tell · shadeA · reveal · powerB · smartC · heartC · showerB
- 5 ABABCDDC bearA · clayB · earA · conveyB · charmC · earthD · birthD · disarmC
- 6 ABBAABBACDCDCD drestA · plainB · profestB · remainA · findA · bearB · fairB · windA · galeC · blowsD · valeC · snowsD · moveC · loveD
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When music warbles from each thorn, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And Zephyr's dewy wings | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Sweep the young flowers; what time the morn | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Her crimson radiance flings: | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘· |
| Then, as the smiling year renews, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| I feel renew'd Love's tender pain; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Renew'd is Laura's cold disdain; | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| And I for comfort court the weeping muse. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Oh! could my sighs in accents flow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So musically lorn, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| That thou might'st catch my am'rous woe, | 8 | ········ |
| And cease, proud Maid! thy scorn: | 6 | ······ |
| Yet, ere within thy icy breast | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The smallest spark of passion's found, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Winter's cold temples shall be bound | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| With all the blooms that paint spring's glowing vest. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The drops that bathe the grief-dew'd eye, | 8 | ········ |
| The love-impassion'd strain | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| To move thy flinty bosom try | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Full oft;--but, ah! in vain | 6 | ······ |
| Would tears, and melting song avail; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| As vainly might the silken breeze, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That bends the flowers, that fans the trees, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Some rugged rock's tremendous brow assail. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Both gods and men alike are sway'd | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| By Love, as poets tell;-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And I, when flowers in every shade | 10 | ···/˘·/˘˘· |
| Their bursting gems reveal, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| First felt his all-subduing power: | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| While Laura knows not yet the smart; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor heeds the tortures of my heart, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My prayers, my plaints, and sorrow's pearly shower! | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Thy wrongs, my soul! with patience bear, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| While life shall warm this clay; | 6 | ······ |
| And soothing sounds to Laura's ear | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| My numbers shall convey; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Numbers with forceful magic charm | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| All nature o'er the frost-bound earth, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wake summer's fragrant buds to birth, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And the fierce serpent of its rage disarm. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The blossom'd shrubs in smiles are drest, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Now laughs his purple plain; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And shall the nymph a foe profest | 8 | ········ |
| To tenderness remain? | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| But oh! what solace shall I find, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| If fortune dooms me yet to bear | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The frowns of my relentless Fair, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Save with soft moan to vex the pitying wind? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In baffling nets the light-wing'd gale | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| I'd fetter as it blows, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The vernal rose that scents the vale | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I'd cull on wintery snows; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Still I'd ne'er hope that mind to move | 8 | ········ |
| Which dares defy the wiles of verse, and Love. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
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