The Beauty of Laura Leads Him to the Contemplation of the Supreme Good
Throned on her angel brow, when Love displaysHis radiant form among all other fair,Far as eclipsed their choicest charms appear,I feel beyond its wont my passion blaze.And still I bless the day, the hour, the place,When first so high mine eyes I dared to rear;And say, "Fond heart, thy gratitude declare,That then thou had'st the privilege to gaze.'Twas she inspired the tender thought of love,Which points to heaven, and teaches to despiseThe earthly vanities that others prize:She gave the soul's light grace, which to the skiesBids thee straight onward in the right path move;Whence buoy'd by hope e'en, now I soar to worlds above."
Words in this poem
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Beauty of Laura Leads Him to the Contemplation of the Supreme Good 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, The Beauty of Laura Leads Him to the Contemplation of the Supreme Good, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/the-beauty-of-laura-leads-him-to-the-contemplation-of-the-su.html, id L14483.
Form and metre
The Beauty of Laura Leads Him to the Contemplation of the Supreme Good 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 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 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 displaysA · fairB · appearB · blazeA · placeA · rearB · declareB · gazeA · loveC · despiseD · prizeC · skiesD · moveC · aboveD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Throned on her angel brow, when Love displays | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| His radiant form among all other fair, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Far as eclipsed their choicest charms appear, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| I feel beyond its wont my passion blaze. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And still I bless the day, the hour, the place, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| When first so high mine eyes I dared to rear; | 10 | ·········· |
| And say, "Fond heart, thy gratitude declare, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| That then thou had'st the privilege to gaze. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| 'Twas she inspired the tender thought of love, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Which points to heaven, and teaches to despise | 10 | ···/·/˘·˘/ |
| The earthly vanities that others prize: | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| She gave the soul's light grace, which to the skies | 10 | ·········· |
| Bids thee straight onward in the right path move; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Whence buoy'd by hope e'en, now I soar to worlds above." | 13 | ·/˘·········· |
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.