Sonnet CXLIII
Through woods inhospitable, wild, I rove,Where armed travellers bend their fearful way;Nor danger dread, save from that sun of love,Bright sun! which darts a soul-enflaming ray.Of her I sing, all-thoughtless as I stray,Whose sweet idea strong as heaven's shall prove:And oft methinks these pines, these beeches, moveLike nymphs; 'mid which fond fancy sees her playI seem to hear her, when the whispering galeSteals through some thick-wove branch, when sings a bird,When purls the stream along yon verdant vale.How grateful might this darksome wood appear,Where horror reigns, where scarce a sound is heard;But, ah! 'tis far from all my heart holds dear.
Words in this poem
- inhospitable a.
- Not hospitable; not disposed to show hospitality to strangers or guests; as, an inhospitable person or people. [Pref. in- not + hospitable: cf. L. inhospitalis.]
- 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,]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- wove
- p. pr. & rare vb. n. of Weave.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet CXLIII 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 CXLIII, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-cxliii.html, id L14712.
Form and metre
Sonnet CXLIII 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%). 92% 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 roveA · wayB · loveB · rayA · strayA · proveB · moveB · playA · galeC · birdD · valeC · appearD · heardC · dearD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Through woods inhospitable, wild, I rove, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘˘··· |
| Where armed travellers bend their fearful way; | 10 | ··/˘˘··/˘· |
| Nor danger dread, save from that sun of love, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Bright sun! which darts a soul-enflaming ray. | 10 | ·········· |
| Of her I sing, all-thoughtless as I stray, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Whose sweet idea strong as heaven's shall prove: | 10 | ··˘/··/˘·· |
| And oft methinks these pines, these beeches, move | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Like nymphs; 'mid which fond fancy sees her play | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I seem to hear her, when the whispering gale | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Steals through some thick-wove branch, when sings a bird, | 10 | ·········· |
| When purls the stream along yon verdant vale. | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| How grateful might this darksome wood appear, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Where horror reigns, where scarce a sound is heard; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But, ah! 'tis far from all my heart holds dear. | 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.