Sonnet L
Alas! this heart by me was little knownIn those first days when Love its depths explored,Where by degrees he made himself the lordOf my whole life, and claim'd it as his own:I did not think that, through his power alone,A heart time-steel'd, and so with valour stored,Such proof of failing firmness could afford,And fell by wrong self-confidence o'erthrown.Henceforward all defence too late will come,Save this, to prove, enough or little, hereIf to these mortal prayers Love lend his ear.Not now my prayer--nor can such e'er have room--That with more mercy he consume my heart,But in the fire that she may bear her part.
Words in this poem
- henceforward adv.
- From this time forward; henceforth.
- defence n.
- The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. [F. défense, OF. defense, fem., defens, masc., fr. L. defensa (cf. Fence.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet L 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 L, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-l.html, id L14561.
Form and metre
Sonnet L 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 91%). 98% 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 knownA · exploredB · lordB · ownA · aloneA · storedB · affordB · o'erthrownA · comeC · hereD · earC · roomD · heartC · partD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alas! this heart by me was little known | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| In those first days when Love its depths explored, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Where by degrees he made himself the lord | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| Of my whole life, and claim'd it as his own: | 10 | ·········· |
| I did not think that, through his power alone, | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| A heart time-steel'd, and so with valour stored, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Such proof of failing firmness could afford, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| And fell by wrong self-confidence o'erthrown. | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Henceforward all defence too late will come, | 11 | ·····˘/···· |
| Save this, to prove, enough or little, here | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| If to these mortal prayers Love lend his ear. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Not now my prayer--nor can such e'er have room-- | 10 | ·········· |
| That with more mercy he consume my heart, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| But in the fire that she may bear her part. | 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.