Sonnet LXXVI
Lady, in bliss who, by our Maker's feet,As suited for thine excellent life alone,Art now enthroned in high and glorious seat,Adorn'd with charms nor pearls nor purple own;O model high and rare of ladies sweet!Now in his face to whom all things are known,Look on my love, with that pure faith replete,As long my verse and truest tears have shown,And know at last my heart on earth to theeWas still as now in heaven, nor wish'd in lifeMore than beneath thine eyes' bright sun to be:Wherefore, to recompense the tedious strife,Which turn'd my liege heart from the world away,Pray that I soon may come with thee to stay.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- replete a.
- Filled again; completely filled; full; charged; abounding. [L. repletus, p. p. of replere to fill again, fill up; pref. re- re- + plere to fill, akin to plenus full: cf. F. replet corpulent. See Plenty, Replenish.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- liege a.
- Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance; as, a liege lord. [OE. lige, lege, F. lige, LL. ligius, legius, liege, unlimited, complete, prob. of German origin; cf. G. ledig free from bonds and obstacles, MHG. ledec, ledic, ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet LXXVI 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 LXXVI, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-lxxvi.html, id L14974.
Form and metre
Sonnet LXXVI 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 89%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 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 feetA · aloneB · seatB · ownA · sweetA · knownB · repleteB · shownA · theeC · lifeD · beC · strifeD · awayC · stayD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lady, in bliss who, by our Maker's feet, | 10 | /˘····//˘· |
| As suited for thine excellent life alone, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Art now enthroned in high and glorious seat, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Adorn'd with charms nor pearls nor purple own; | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| O model high and rare of ladies sweet! | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Now in his face to whom all things are known, | 10 | ·········· |
| Look on my love, with that pure faith replete, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| As long my verse and truest tears have shown, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And know at last my heart on earth to thee | 10 | ·········· |
| Was still as now in heaven, nor wish'd in life | 10 | ·····/···· |
| More than beneath thine eyes' bright sun to be: | 10 | ·········· |
| Wherefore, to recompense the tedious strife, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Which turn'd my liege heart from the world away, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Pray that I soon may come with thee to stay. | 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.