Sonnet CCVI
Evil oppresses me and worse dismay,To which a plain and ample way I find;Driven like thee by frantic passion, blind,Urged by harsh thoughts I bend like thee my way.Nor know I if for war or peace to pray:To war is ruin, shame to peace, assign'd.But wherefore languish thus?--Rather, resign'd,Whate'er the Will Supreme ordains, obey.However ill that honour me beseemBy thee conferr'd, whom that affection cheatsWhich many a perfect eye to error sways,To raise thy spirit to that realm supremeMy counsel is, and win those blissful seats:For short the time, and few the allotted days.
Words in this poem
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- languish v. i.
- To cause to dr Shak.
- 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.]
- beseem v. i.
- To seem; to appear; to be fitting.
- blissful a.
- Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CCVI 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 CCVI, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-ccvi.html, id L14808.
Form and metre
Sonnet CCVI 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%). 93% 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 dismayA · findB · blindB · wayA · prayA · assign'dB · resign'dB · obeyA · beseemC · cheatsD · swaysC · supremeD · seatsC · daysD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Evil oppresses me and worse dismay, | 10 | /˘˘/˘···˘/ |
| To which a plain and ample way I find; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Driven like thee by frantic passion, blind, | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| Urged by harsh thoughts I bend like thee my way. | 10 | ·········· |
| Nor know I if for war or peace to pray: | 10 | ·········· |
| To war is ruin, shame to peace, assign'd. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| But wherefore languish thus?--Rather, resign'd, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Whate'er the Will Supreme ordains, obey. | 11 | ˘˘/··˘/˘/˘/ |
| However ill that honour me beseem | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| By thee conferr'd, whom that affection cheats | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| Which many a perfect eye to error sways, | 10 | ·/·/···/˘· |
| To raise thy spirit to that realm supreme | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| My counsel is, and win those blissful seats: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| For short the time, and few the allotted days. | 11 | ·······˘/˘· |
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.