Sonnet CCX
Who wishes to behold the utmost mightOf Heaven and Nature, on her let him gaze,Sole sun, not only in my partial lays,But to the dark world, blind to virtue's light!And let him haste to view; for death in spiteThe guilty leaves, and on the virtuous preys;For this loved angel heaven impatient stays;And mortal charms are transient as they're bright!Here shall he see, if timely he arrive,Virtue and beauty, royalty of mind,In one bless'd union join'd. Then shall he sayThat vainly my weak rhymes to praise her strive,Whose dazzling beams have struck my genius blind:--He must for ever weep if he delay!
Words in this poem
- virtuous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: -- (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See Virtue, and cf. Virtuoso.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CCX 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 CCX, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-ccx.html, id L14813.
Form and metre
Sonnet CCX 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 88%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 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 mightA · gazeB · laysB · lightA · spiteA · preysB · staysB · brightA · arriveC · mindD · sayC · striveD · blindC · delayD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Who wishes to behold the utmost might | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/·· |
| Of Heaven and Nature, on her let him gaze, | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| Sole sun, not only in my partial lays, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But to the dark world, blind to virtue's light! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And let him haste to view; for death in spite | 10 | ·········· |
| The guilty leaves, and on the virtuous preys; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| For this loved angel heaven impatient stays; | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| And mortal charms are transient as they're bright! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Here shall he see, if timely he arrive, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Virtue and beauty, royalty of mind, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘˘·· |
| In one bless'd union join'd. Then shall he say | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That vainly my weak rhymes to praise her strive, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Whose dazzling beams have struck my genius blind:-- | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| He must for ever weep if he delay! | 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.