Sonnet Clxxiii
Impetuous flood, that from the Alps' rude head,Eating around thee, dost thy name obtain;Anxious like me both night and day to gainWhere thee pure nature, and me love doth lead;Pour on: thy course nor sleep nor toils impede;Yet, ere thou pay'st thy tribute to the main,Oh, tarry where most verdant looks the plain,Where most serenity the skies doth spread!There beams my radiant sun of cheering ray,Which deck thy left banks, and gems o'er with flowers;E'en now, vain thought! perhaps she chides my stay:Kiss then her feet, her hand so beauteous fair;In place of language let thy kiss declareStrong is my will, though feeble are my powers.
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 Clxxiii 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 Clxxiii, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-clxxiii.html, id L14757.
Form and metre
Sonnet Clxxiii 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 86%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 2 lines end 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 headA · obtainB · gainB · leadA · impedeA · mainB · plainB · spreadA · rayC · flowersD · stayC · fairD · declareC · powersD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Impetuous flood, that from the Alps' rude head, | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Eating around thee, dost thy name obtain; | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Anxious like me both night and day to gain | 10 | /˘········ |
| Where thee pure nature, and me love doth lead; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Pour on: thy course nor sleep nor toils impede; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Yet, ere thou pay'st thy tribute to the main, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Oh, tarry where most verdant looks the plain, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Where most serenity the skies doth spread! | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| There beams my radiant sun of cheering ray, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Which deck thy left banks, and gems o'er with flowers; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| E'en now, vain thought! perhaps she chides my stay: | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Kiss then her feet, her hand so beauteous fair; | 11 | ·······/˘˘· |
| In place of language let thy kiss declare | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Strong is my will, though feeble are my powers. | 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.