Vaucluse
Nowhere before could I so well have seenHer whom my soul most craves since lost to view;Nowhere in so great freedom could have beenBreathing my amorous lays 'neath skies so blue;Never with depths of shade so calm and greenA valley found for lover's sigh more true;Methinks a spot so lovely and sereneLove not in Cyprus nor in Gnidos knew.All breathes one spell, all prompts and prays that ILike them should love--the clear sky, the calm hour,Winds, waters, birds, the green bough, the gay flower--But thou, beloved, who call'st me from on high,By the sad memory of thine early fate,Pray that I hold the world and these sweet snares in hate.
Words in this poem
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- cyprus n.
- A thin, transparent stuff, the same as, or corresponding to, crape. It was either white or black, the latter being most common, and used for mourning. [OE. cipres, cypirs; perh. so named as being first manufactured in Cyprus. Cf. Cipers.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Vaucluse 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, Vaucluse, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/vaucluse.html, id L14857.
Form and metre
Vaucluse 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 82%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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 seenA · viewB · beenB · blueA · greenA · trueB · sereneB · knewA · iC · hourD · flowerC · highD · fateC · hateD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nowhere before could I so well have seen | 10 | /········· |
| Her whom my soul most craves since lost to view; | 10 | ·········· |
| Nowhere in so great freedom could have been | 10 | /····/˘··· |
| Breathing my amorous lays 'neath skies so blue; | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Never with depths of shade so calm and green | 10 | /˘········ |
| A valley found for lover's sigh more true; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Methinks a spot so lovely and serene | 10 | ˘/···/˘·˘/ |
| Love not in Cyprus nor in Gnidos knew. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| All breathes one spell, all prompts and prays that I | 10 | ·········· |
| Like them should love--the clear sky, the calm hour, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Winds, waters, birds, the green bough, the gay flower-- | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| But thou, beloved, who call'st me from on high, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| By the sad memory of thine early fate, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Pray that I hold the world and these sweet snares in hate. | 12 | ············ |
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.