Though Far from Laura, Solitary and Unhappy, Envy Still Pursues Him
Since mercy's door is closed, alas! to me,And hopeless paths my poor life separateFrom her in whom, I know not by what fate,The guerdon lay of all my constancy,My heart that lacks not other food, on sighsI feed: to sorrow born, I live on tears:Nor therefore mourn I: sweeter far appearsMy present grief than others can surmise.On thy dear portrait rests alone my view,Which nor Praxiteles nor Xeuxis drew,But a more bold and cunning pencil framed.What shore can hide me, or what distance shield,If by my cruel exile yet untamedInsatiate Envy finds me here concealed?
Words in this poem
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
- insatiate a.
- Insatiable; as, insatiate thirst. [L. insatiatus.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Though Far from Laura, Solitary and Unhappy, Envy Still Pursues Him 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, Though Far from Laura, Solitary and Unhappy, Envy Still Pursues Him, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/though-far-from-laura-solitary-and-unhappy-envy-still-pursue.html, id L14646.
Form and metre
Though Far from Laura, Solitary and Unhappy, Envy Still Pursues Him 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 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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 meA · separateB · fateB · constancyA · sighsA · tearsB · appearsB · surmiseA · viewC · drewD · framedC · shieldD · untamedC · concealedD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Since mercy's door is closed, alas! to me, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| And hopeless paths my poor life separate | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| From her in whom, I know not by what fate, | 10 | ·········· |
| The guerdon lay of all my constancy, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| My heart that lacks not other food, on sighs | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I feed: to sorrow born, I live on tears: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Nor therefore mourn I: sweeter far appears | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| My present grief than others can surmise. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| On thy dear portrait rests alone my view, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Which nor Praxiteles nor Xeuxis drew, | 9 | ········· |
| But a more bold and cunning pencil framed. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| What shore can hide me, or what distance shield, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| If by my cruel exile yet untamed | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Insatiate Envy finds me here concealed? | 11 | ˘/˘˘/˘···˘/ |
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.