The Charms of Laura When She First Met His Sight
Ne'er can the sun such radiance soft display,Piercing some cloud that would its light impair;Ne'er tinged some showery arch the humid air,With variegated lustre half so gay,As when, sweet-smiling my fond heart away,All-beauteous shone my captivating fair;For charms what mortal can with her compare!But truth, impartial truth! much more might say.I saw young Cupid, saw his laughing eyesWith such bewitching, am'rous sweetness roll,That every human glance I since despise.Believe, dear friend! I saw the wanton boy;Bent was his bow to wound my tender soul;Yet, ah! once more I'd view the dang'rous joy.
Sun never rose so beautiful and brightWhen skies above most clear and cloudless show'd,Nor, after rain, the bow of heaven e'er glow'dWith tints so varied, delicate, and light,As in rare beauty flash'd upon my sight,The day I first took up this am'rous load,That face whose fellow ne'er on earth abode--Even my praise to paint it seems a slight!Then saw I Love, who did her fine eyes bendSo sweetly, every other face obscureHas from that hour till now appear'd to me.The boy-god and his bow, I saw them, friend,From whom life since has never been secure,Whom still I madly yearn again to see.
Words in this poem
- showery a.
- Raining in showers; abounding with frequent showers of rain.
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- 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]
- cloudless a.
- Without a cloud; clear; bright.
- 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.]
- madly adv.
- In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly. [From Mad, a.]
- yearn v. t.
- To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Charms of Laura When She First Met His Sight 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 Laura When She First Met His Sight, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/the-charms-of-laura-when-she-first-met-his-sight.html, id L18600.
Form and metre
The Charms of Laura When She First Met His Sight is 28 lines in 2 stanzas of 14 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBAABBACDCDCD, the Italian sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 18% 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 displayA · impairB · airB · gayA · awayA · fairB · compareB · sayA · eyesC · rollD · despiseC · boyD · soulC · joyD
- 2 ABBAABBACDCDCD brightA · show'dB · glow'dB · lightA · sightA · loadB · abodeB · slightA · bendC · obscureD · meC · friendD · secureC · seeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ne'er can the sun such radiance soft display, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Piercing some cloud that would its light impair; | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Ne'er tinged some showery arch the humid air, | 11 | ···/˘˘··/˘· |
| With variegated lustre half so gay, | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/˘··· |
| As when, sweet-smiling my fond heart away, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| All-beauteous shone my captivating fair; | 11 | ·/˘˘··/˘·˘· |
| For charms what mortal can with her compare! | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| But truth, impartial truth! much more might say. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| I saw young Cupid, saw his laughing eyes | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| With such bewitching, am'rous sweetness roll, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| That every human glance I since despise. | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Believe, dear friend! I saw the wanton boy; | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Bent was his bow to wound my tender soul; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yet, ah! once more I'd view the dang'rous joy. | 10 | ·········· |
| Sun never rose so beautiful and bright | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| When skies above most clear and cloudless show'd, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Nor, after rain, the bow of heaven e'er glow'd | 10 | ·······/·· |
| With tints so varied, delicate, and light, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| As in rare beauty flash'd upon my sight, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The day I first took up this am'rous load, | 10 | ·········· |
| That face whose fellow ne'er on earth abode-- | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Even my praise to paint it seems a slight! | 10 | /˘········ |
| Then saw I Love, who did her fine eyes bend | 10 | ·········· |
| So sweetly, every other face obscure | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Has from that hour till now appear'd to me. | 10 | ···/··˘/·· |
| The boy-god and his bow, I saw them, friend, | 10 | ·········· |
| From whom life since has never been secure, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Whom still I madly yearn again to see. | 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.