Sonnet XCI
Yes, out of impious Babylon I'm flown,Whence flown all shame, whence banish'd is all good,That nurse of error, and of guilt th' abode,To lengthen out a life which else were gone:There as Love prompts, while wandering alone,I now a garland weave, and now an ode;With him I commune, and in pensive moodHope better times; this only checks my moan.Nor for the throng, nor fortune do I care,Nor for myself, nor sublunary things,No ardour outwardly, or inly springs:I ask two persons only: let my fairFor me a kind and tender heart maintain;And be my friend secure in his high post again.
Words in this poem
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- commune n.
- The commonalty; the common people. [F., fr. commun. See Common.]
- sublunary n.
- Any worldly thing.
- ardour n.
- Heat, in a literal sense; as, the ardor of the sun's rays. [L. ardor, fr. ardere to burn: cf. OF. ardor, ardur, F. ardeur.]
- inly a.
- Internal; interior; secret. [OE. inlich, AS. inlic. See In.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XCI 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 XCI, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-xci.html, id L14626.
Form and metre
Sonnet XCI 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%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 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 flownA · goodB · abodeB · goneA · aloneA · odeB · moodB · moanA · careC · thingsD · springsC · fairD · maintainC · againD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Yes, out of impious Babylon I'm flown, | 11 | ···˘/˘/˘··· |
| Whence flown all shame, whence banish'd is all good, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That nurse of error, and of guilt th' abode, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| To lengthen out a life which else were gone: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| There as Love prompts, while wandering alone, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| I now a garland weave, and now an ode; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With him I commune, and in pensive mood | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Hope better times; this only checks my moan. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Nor for the throng, nor fortune do I care, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nor for myself, nor sublunary things, | 10 | ···/·/˘˘˘· |
| No ardour outwardly, or inly springs: | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| I ask two persons only: let my fair | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| For me a kind and tender heart maintain; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And be my friend secure in his high post again. | 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.