Sonnet V
What dost thou? think'st thou? wherefore bend thine eyeBack on the time that never shall return?The raging fire, where once 'twas thine to burn,Why with fresh fuel, wretched soul, supply?Those thrilling tones, those glances of the sky,Which one by one thy fond verse strove to adorn,Are fled; and--well thou knowest, poor forlorn!--To seek them here were bootless industry.Then toil not bliss so fleeting to renew;To chase a thought so fair, so faithless, cease:Thou rather that unwavering good pursue,Which guides to heaven; since nought below can please.Fatal for us that beauty's torturing view,Living or dead alike which desolates our peace.
Words in this poem
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- 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,]
- thrilling a.
- Causing a thrill; causing tremulous excitement; deeply moving; as, a thrilling romance.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- bootless a.
- Unavailing; unprofitable; useless; without advantage or success. [From Boot profit.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet V 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 V, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-v.html, id L14847.
Form and metre
Sonnet V 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 85%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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 eyeA · returnB · burnB · supplyA · skyA · adornB · forlornB · industryA · renewC · ceaseD · pursueC · pleaseD · viewC · peaceD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What dost thou? think'st thou? wherefore bend thine eye | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Back on the time that never shall return? | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The raging fire, where once 'twas thine to burn, | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| Why with fresh fuel, wretched soul, supply? | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Those thrilling tones, those glances of the sky, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Which one by one thy fond verse strove to adorn, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Are fled; and--well thou knowest, poor forlorn!-- | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To seek them here were bootless industry. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Then toil not bliss so fleeting to renew; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To chase a thought so fair, so faithless, cease: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thou rather that unwavering good pursue, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Which guides to heaven; since nought below can please. | 10 | ···/······ |
| Fatal for us that beauty's torturing view, | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| Living or dead alike which desolates our peace. | 11 | /˘··˘/·/˘/· |
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.