The Charms of Her Countenance and Voice
Whence could Love take the gold, and from what vein,To form those bright twin locks? What thorn could growThose roses? And what mead that white bestowOf the fresh dews, which pulse and breath obtain?Whence came those pearls that modestly restrainAccents which courteous, sweet, and rare can flow?And whence those charms that so divinely show,Spread o'er a face serene as heaven's blue plain?Taught by what angel, or what tuneful sphere,Was that celestial song, which doth dispenseSuch potent magic to the ravish'd ear?What sun illumed those bright commanding eyes,Which now look peaceful, now in hostile guise;Now torture me with hope, and now with fear?
Words in this poem
- modestly adv.
- In a modest manner.
- tuneful a.
- Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
- dispense v. i.
- To compensate; to make up; to make amends.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Charms of Her Countenance and Voice 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 Charms of Her Countenance and Voice, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/the-charms-of-her-countenance-and-voice.html, id L14776.
Form and metre
The Charms of Her Countenance and Voice 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 88%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 29% 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 veinA · growB · bestowB · obtainA · restrainA · flowB · showB · plainA · sphereC · dispenseD · earC · eyesD · guiseC · fearD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Whence could Love take the gold, and from what vein, | 10 | ·········· |
| To form those bright twin locks? What thorn could grow | 10 | ·········· |
| Those roses? And what mead that white bestow | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Of the fresh dews, which pulse and breath obtain? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Whence came those pearls that modestly restrain | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Accents which courteous, sweet, and rare can flow? | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| And whence those charms that so divinely show, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Spread o'er a face serene as heaven's blue plain? | 11 | ····˘/·/˘·· |
| Taught by what angel, or what tuneful sphere, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Was that celestial song, which doth dispense | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Such potent magic to the ravish'd ear? | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| What sun illumed those bright commanding eyes, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Which now look peaceful, now in hostile guise; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Now torture me with hope, and now with fear? | 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.