Sonnet CLXIII
The gentle gale, that plays my face around,Murmuring sweet mischief through the verdant grove,To fond remembrance brings the time, when LoveFirst gave his deep, although delightful wound;Gave me to view that beauteous face, ne'er foundVeil'd, as disdain or jealousy might move;To view her locks that shone bright gold above,Then loose, but now with pearls and jewels bound:Those locks she sweetly scatter'd to the wind,And then coil'd up again so gracefully,That but to think on it still thrills the sense.These Time has in more sober braids confined;And bound my heart with such a powerful tie,That death alone can disengage it thence.
Words in this poem
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CLXIII 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 CLXIII, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-clxiii.html, id L14743.
Form and metre
Sonnet CLXIII 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 87%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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 aroundA · groveB · loveB · woundA · foundA · moveB · aboveB · boundA · windC · gracefullyD · senseC · confinedD · tieC · thenceD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The gentle gale, that plays my face around, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Murmuring sweet mischief through the verdant grove, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| To fond remembrance brings the time, when Love | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| First gave his deep, although delightful wound; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Gave me to view that beauteous face, ne'er found | 11 | ·····/˘˘··· |
| Veil'd, as disdain or jealousy might move; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘·· |
| To view her locks that shone bright gold above, | 10 | ·········· |
| Then loose, but now with pearls and jewels bound: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Those locks she sweetly scatter'd to the wind, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And then coil'd up again so gracefully, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘˘ |
| That but to think on it still thrills the sense. | 10 | ·········· |
| These Time has in more sober braids confined; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And bound my heart with such a powerful tie, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That death alone can disengage it thence. | 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.