Sonnet XIV
O blessed spirit! who dost oft return,Ministering comfort to my nights of woe,From eyes which Death, relenting in his blow,Has lit with all the lustres of the morn:How am I gladden'd, that thou dost not scornO'er my dark days thy radiant beam to throw!Thus do I seem again to trace belowThy beauties, hovering o'er their loved sojourn.There now, thou seest, where long of thee had beenMy sprightlier strain, of thee my plaint I swell--Of thee!--oh, no! of mine own sorrows keen.One only solace cheers the wretched scene:By many a sign I know thy coming well--Thy step, thy voice and look, and robe of favour'd green.
Words in this poem
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- sojourn v. i.
- To dwell for a time; to dwell or live in a place as a temporary resident or as a stranger, not considering the place as a permanent habitation; to delay; to tarry. [OE. sojornen, sojournen, OF. sojorner, sejorner, F. séjourner, fr. L. sub under, about + diurnus belonging to the day. See Journal, Diurnal.]
- plaint n.
- Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint; hence, a mournful song; a lament. Chaucer."The Psalmist's mournful plaint." [OE. plainte, pleynte, F. plainte, fr. L. plangere, planctum (plancta, fem. p.p.), to beat, beat the breast, lament. Cf. Complain, Plague, Plangent.]
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XIV 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 XIV, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-xiv.html, id L14860.
Form and metre
Sonnet XIV 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. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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 returnA · woeB · blowB · mornA · scornA · throwB · belowB · sojournA · beenC · swellD · keenC · sceneD · wellC · greenD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O blessed spirit! who dost oft return, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Ministering comfort to my nights of woe, | 10 | /˘˘/˘····· |
| From eyes which Death, relenting in his blow, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Has lit with all the lustres of the morn: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| How am I gladden'd, that thou dost not scorn | 10 | ·········· |
| O'er my dark days thy radiant beam to throw! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thus do I seem again to trace below | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Thy beauties, hovering o'er their loved sojourn. | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘···/˘ |
| There now, thou seest, where long of thee had been | 10 | ·········· |
| My sprightlier strain, of thee my plaint I swell-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Of thee!--oh, no! of mine own sorrows keen. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| One only solace cheers the wretched scene: | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| By many a sign I know thy coming well-- | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| Thy step, thy voice and look, and robe of favour'd green. | 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.