Sheppard
Still do I mourn the years for aye gone by,Which on a mortal love I lavished,Nor e'er to soar my pinions balanced,Though wing'd perchance no humble height to fly.Thou, Dread Invisible, who from on highLook'st down upon this suffering erring head,Oh, be thy succour to my frailty sped,And with thy grace my indigence supply!My life in storms and warfare doom'd to spend,Harbour'd in peace that life may I resign:It's course though idle, pious be its end!Oh, for the few brief days, which yet are mine,And for their close, thy guiding hand extend!Thou know'st on Thee alone my heart's firm hopes recline.
Words in this poem
- succour v. t.
- tiono run to, or run to support; hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want, or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; to relieve; as, to succor a besieged city. [OE. socouren, OF. sucurre, soucourre, secorre, F. secourir, L. succurrere, succursum, to run under, run to the aid of, help, succor; sub under + currere to run.]
- frailty n.
- The condition quality of being frail, physically, mentally, or morally, frailness; infirmity; weakness of resolution; liableness to be deceived or seduced. [OE. frelete, freilte, OF. fraileté, fr. L. fragilitas. See Frail, a., and cf. Fragility.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sheppard 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, Sheppard, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sheppard.html, id L14991.
Form and metre
Sheppard 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%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 7% 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 byA · lavishedB · balancedB · flyA · highA · headB · spedB · supplyA · spendC · resignD · endC · mineD · extendC · reclineD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Still do I mourn the years for aye gone by, | 10 | ·········· |
| Which on a mortal love I lavished, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Nor e'er to soar my pinions balanced, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Though wing'd perchance no humble height to fly. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Thou, Dread Invisible, who from on high | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| Look'st down upon this suffering erring head, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Oh, be thy succour to my frailty sped, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And with thy grace my indigence supply! | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| My life in storms and warfare doom'd to spend, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Harbour'd in peace that life may I resign: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| It's course though idle, pious be its end! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Oh, for the few brief days, which yet are mine, | 10 | ·········· |
| And for their close, thy guiding hand extend! | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Thou know'st on Thee alone my heart's firm hopes recline. | 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.