To a Friend, Counselling Him to Abandon Earthly Pleasures
Still has it been our bitter lot to proveHow hope, or e'er it reach fruition, flies!Up then to that high good, which never dies,Lift we the heart--to heaven's pure bliss above.On earth, as in a tempting mead, we rove,Where coil'd 'mid flowers the traitor serpent lies;And, if some casual glimpse delight our eyes,'Tis but to grieve the soul enthrall'd by Love.Oh! then, as thou wouldst wish ere life's last dayTo taste the sweets of calm unbroken rest,Tread firm the narrow, shun the beaten way--Ah! to thy friend too well may be address'd:"Thou show'st a path, thyself most apt to stray,Which late thy truant feet, fond youth, have never press'd."
Words in this poem
- fruition n.
- Use or possession of anything, especially such as is accompanied with pleasure or satisfaction; pleasure derived from possession or use. [OF. fruition, L. fruitio, enjoyment, fr. L. frui, p. p. fruitus, to use or enjoy. See Fruit, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Friend, Counselling Him to Abandon Earthly Pleasures 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, To a Friend, Counselling Him to Abandon Earthly Pleasures, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/to-a-friend-counselling-him-to-abandon-earthly-pleasures.html, id L14604.
Form and metre
To a Friend, Counselling Him to Abandon Earthly Pleasures 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%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 14% 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 proveA · fliesB · diesB · aboveA · roveA · liesB · eyesB · loveA · dayC · restD · wayC · address'dD · strayC · press'dD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Still has it been our bitter lot to prove | 10 | ····//˘··· |
| How hope, or e'er it reach fruition, flies! | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Up then to that high good, which never dies, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Lift we the heart--to heaven's pure bliss above. | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| On earth, as in a tempting mead, we rove, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Where coil'd 'mid flowers the traitor serpent lies; | 10 | ···/·/˘/˘· |
| And, if some casual glimpse delight our eyes, | 10 | ···/˘·˘//· |
| 'Tis but to grieve the soul enthrall'd by Love. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Oh! then, as thou wouldst wish ere life's last day | 10 | ·········· |
| To taste the sweets of calm unbroken rest, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Tread firm the narrow, shun the beaten way-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Ah! to thy friend too well may be address'd: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| "Thou show'st a path, thyself most apt to stray, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Which late thy truant feet, fond youth, have never press'd." | 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.