Wyatt
Love, that liveth and reigneth in my thought,That built its seat within my captive breast;Clad in the arms wherein with me he fought,Oft in my face he doth his banner rest.She, that me taught to love, and suffer pain;My doubtful hope, and eke my hot desireWith shamefaced cloak to shadow and restrain,Her smiling grace converteth straight to ire.And coward love then to the heart apaceTaketh his flight; whereas he lurks, and plainsHis purpose lost, and dare not show his face.For my lord's guilt thus faultless bide I pains.Yet from my lord shall not my foot remove:Sweet is his death, that takes his end by love.
Words in this poem
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- shamefaced a.
- Easily confused or put out of countenance; diffident; bashful; modest. [For shamefast; AS. scamf. See Shame, n., and Fast firm.]
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- whereas adv.
- At which place; where.
- faultless a.
- Without fault; not defective or imperfect; free from blemish; free from incorrectness, vice, or offense; perfect; as, a faultless poem.
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Wyatt 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, Wyatt, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/wyatt-6.html, id L14662.
Form and metre
Wyatt 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%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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 thoughtA · breastB · foughtB · restA · painA · desireB · restrainB · ireA · apaceC · plainsD · faceC · painsD · removeC · loveD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Love, that liveth and reigneth in my thought, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That built its seat within my captive breast; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Clad in the arms wherein with me he fought, | 10 | ·········· |
| Oft in my face he doth his banner rest. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| She, that me taught to love, and suffer pain; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| My doubtful hope, and eke my hot desire | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| With shamefaced cloak to shadow and restrain, | 10 | ·/˘··/··˘/ |
| Her smiling grace converteth straight to ire. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘··· |
| And coward love then to the heart apace | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Taketh his flight; whereas he lurks, and plains | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| His purpose lost, and dare not show his face. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| For my lord's guilt thus faultless bide I pains. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Yet from my lord shall not my foot remove: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Sweet is his death, that takes his end by love. | 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.