Sonnet LII
The solemn aspect of this sacred shoreWakes for the misspent past my bitter sighs;'Pause, wretched man! and turn,' as conscience cries,Pointing the heavenward way where I should soar.But soon another thought gets mastery o'erThe first, that so to palter were unwise;E'en now the time, if memory err not, flies,When we should wait our lady-love before.I, for his aim then well I apprehend,Within me freeze, as one who, sudden, hearsNews unexpected which his soul offend.Returns my first thought then, that disappears;Nor know I which shall conquer, but till nowWithin me they contend, nor hope of rest allow!
Words in this poem
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- palter v. i.
- To haggle. Cotgrave. [See Paltry.]
- 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 LII 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 LII, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-lii.html, id L14564.
Form and metre
Sonnet LII 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%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 29% 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 shoreA · sighsB · criesB · soarA · o'erA · unwiseB · fliesB · beforeA · apprehendC · hearsD · offendC · disappearsD · nowC · allowD
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 solemn aspect of this sacred shore | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| Wakes for the misspent past my bitter sighs; | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| 'Pause, wretched man! and turn,' as conscience cries, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Pointing the heavenward way where I should soar. | 11 | /˘·/˘˘····· |
| But soon another thought gets mastery o'er | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| The first, that so to palter were unwise; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| E'en now the time, if memory err not, flies, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| When we should wait our lady-love before. | 10 | ····//˘··· |
| I, for his aim then well I apprehend, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Within me freeze, as one who, sudden, hears | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| News unexpected which his soul offend. | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Returns my first thought then, that disappears; | 10 | ˘/······˘/ |
| Nor know I which shall conquer, but till now | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Within me they contend, nor hope of rest allow! | 12 | ····˘/····˘/ |
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.