Sonnet XLVII
All my green years and golden prime of manHad pass'd away, and with attemper'd sighsMy bosom heaved--ere yet the days ariseWhen life declines, contracting its brief span.Already my loved enemy beganTo lull suspicion, and in sportive guise,With timid confidence, though playful, wise,In gentle mockery my long pains to scan:The hour was near when Love, at length, may mateWith Chastity; and, by the dear one's side,The lover's thoughts and words may freely flow:Death saw, with envy, my too happy state,E'en its fair promise--and, with fatal pride,Strode in the midway forth, an armed foe!
Words in this poem
- lull v. t.
- To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. [Akin to OD. lullen to sing to sleep, G. lullen, Dan. lulle, Sw. lulla; all of imitative origin. Cf. Loll, Lollard.]
- scan v. t.
- To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. [L. scandere, scansum, to climb, to scan, akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap: cf. F. scander. Cf. Ascend, Descend, Scale a ladder.]
- midway n.
- The middle of the way or distance; a middle way or course.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XLVII 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 XLVII, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/sonnet-xlvii.html, id L14920.
Form and metre
Sonnet XLVII 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%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 36% 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 manA · sighsB · ariseB · spanA · beganA · guiseB · wiseB · scanA · mateC · sideD · flowC · stateD · prideC · foeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| All my green years and golden prime of man | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Had pass'd away, and with attemper'd sighs | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| My bosom heaved--ere yet the days arise | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| When life declines, contracting its brief span. | 10 | ··˘//˘˘··· |
| Already my loved enemy began | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| To lull suspicion, and in sportive guise, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| With timid confidence, though playful, wise, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| In gentle mockery my long pains to scan: | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| The hour was near when Love, at length, may mate | 10 | ·/········ |
| With Chastity; and, by the dear one's side, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| The lover's thoughts and words may freely flow: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Death saw, with envy, my too happy state, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| E'en its fair promise--and, with fatal pride, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Strode in the midway forth, an armed foe! | 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.