Sonnet LXXXV
Love held me one and twenty years enchain'd,His flame was joy--for hope was in my grief!For ten more years I wept without relief,When Laura with my heart, to heaven attain'd.Now weary grown, my life I had arraign'dThat in its error, check'd (to my belief)Blest virtue's seeds--now, in my yellow leaf,I grieve the misspent years, existence stain'd.Alas! it might have sought a brighter goal,In flying troublous thoughts, and winning peace;O Father! I repentant seek thy throne:Thou, in this temple hast enshrined my soul,Oh, bless me yet, and grant its safe release!Unjustified--my sin I humbly own.
Words in this poem
- laura n.
- A number of hermitages or cells in the same neighborhood occupied by anchorites who were under the same superior. C. Kingsley.
- troublous a.
- Full of trouble; causing trouble.
- repentant a.
- Penitent; sorry for sin. [F. repentant.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet LXXXV 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 LXXXV, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-lxxxv.html, id L14989.
Form and metre
Sonnet LXXXV 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 94%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 7% 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 enchain'dA · griefB · reliefB · attain'dA · arraign'dA · beliefB · leafB · stain'dA · goalC · peaceD · throneC · soulD · releaseC · ownD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Love held me one and twenty years enchain'd, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| His flame was joy--for hope was in my grief! | 10 | ·········· |
| For ten more years I wept without relief, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| When Laura with my heart, to heaven attain'd. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘/ |
| Now weary grown, my life I had arraign'd | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| That in its error, check'd (to my belief) | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Blest virtue's seeds--now, in my yellow leaf, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| I grieve the misspent years, existence stain'd. | 10 | ···˘/·˘/˘· |
| Alas! it might have sought a brighter goal, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| In flying troublous thoughts, and winning peace; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| O Father! I repentant seek thy throne: | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Thou, in this temple hast enshrined my soul, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Oh, bless me yet, and grant its safe release! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Unjustified--my sin I humbly own. | 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.