Sonnet CC
O Love, I err, and I mine error own,As one who burns, whose fire within him liesAnd aggravates his grief, while reason dies,With its own martyrdom almost o'erthrown.I strove mine ardent longing to restrain,Her fair calm face that I might ne'er disturb:I can no more; falls from my hand the curb,And my despairing soul is bold again;Wherefore if higher than her wont she aim,The act is thine, who firest and spur'st her so,No way too rough or steep for her to go:But the rare heavenly gifts are most to blameShrined in herself: let her at least feel this,Lest of my faults her pardon I should miss.
Words in this poem
- martyrdom n.
- The condition of a martyr; the death of a martyr; the suffering of death on account of adherence to the Christian faith, or to any cause. [Martyr + -dom.]
- despairing a.
- Feeling or expressing despair; hopeless.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CC 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, Sonnet CC, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-cc.html, id L14797.
Form and metre
Sonnet CC 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 85%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 14% 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 ownA · liesB · diesB · o'erthrownA · restrainA · disturbB · curbB · againA · aimC · soD · goC · blameD · thisC · missD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O Love, I err, and I mine error own, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As one who burns, whose fire within him lies | 10 | ·····/···· |
| And aggravates his grief, while reason dies, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| With its own martyrdom almost o'erthrown. | 10 | ···/˘˘/··· |
| I strove mine ardent longing to restrain, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Her fair calm face that I might ne'er disturb: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| I can no more; falls from my hand the curb, | 10 | ·········· |
| And my despairing soul is bold again; | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Wherefore if higher than her wont she aim, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| The act is thine, who firest and spur'st her so, | 11 | ··········· |
| No way too rough or steep for her to go: | 10 | ·········· |
| But the rare heavenly gifts are most to blame | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Shrined in herself: let her at least feel this, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Lest of my faults her pardon I should miss. | 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.