The Sight of Laura's House Reminds Him of His Misery
Is this the nest in which my phoenix firstHer plumage donn'd of purple and of gold,Beneath her wings who knew my heart to hold,For whom e'en yet its sighs and wishes burst?Prime root in which my cherish'd ill had birth,Where is the fair face whence that bright light came.Alive and glad which kept me in my flame?Now bless'd in heaven as then alone on earth;Wretched and lonely thou hast left me here,Fond lingering by the scenes, with sorrows drown'd,To thee which consecrate I still revere.Watching the hills as dark night gathers round,Whence its last flight to heaven thy soul did take,And where my day those bright eyes wont to make.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- revere v. t.
- To regard with reverence, or profound respect and affection, mingled with awe or fear; to venerate; to reverence; to honor in estimation. [L. revereri; pref. re- re- + vereri to fear, perh. akin to E. wary: cf. F. révérer.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sight of Laura's House Reminds Him of His Misery 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 Sight of Laura's House Reminds Him of His Misery, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/the-sight-of-laura-s-house-reminds-him-of-his-misery.html, id L14930.
Form and metre
The Sight of Laura's House Reminds Him of His Misery 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%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 7% 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 firstA · goldB · holdB · burstA · birthA · cameB · flameB · earthA · hereC · drown'dD · revereC · roundD · takeC · makeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Is this the nest in which my phoenix first | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Her plumage donn'd of purple and of gold, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Beneath her wings who knew my heart to hold, | 10 | ·········· |
| For whom e'en yet its sighs and wishes burst? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Prime root in which my cherish'd ill had birth, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Where is the fair face whence that bright light came. | 10 | ·········· |
| Alive and glad which kept me in my flame? | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Now bless'd in heaven as then alone on earth; | 10 | ···/··˘/·· |
| Wretched and lonely thou hast left me here, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Fond lingering by the scenes, with sorrows drown'd, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| To thee which consecrate I still revere. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Watching the hills as dark night gathers round, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Whence its last flight to heaven thy soul did take, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| And where my day those bright eyes wont to make. | 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.