From the Italian of Michael Angelo
Yes! hope may with my strong desire keep pace,And I be undeluded, unbetrayed;For if of our affections none finds graceIn sight of Heaven, then, wherefore hath God madeThe world which we inhabit? Better pleaLove cannot have, than that in loving theeGlory to that eternal Peace is paid,Who such divinity to thee impartsAs hallows and makes pure all gentle hearts.His hope is treacherous only whose love diesWith beauty, which is varying every hour;But, in chaste hearts uninfluenced by the powerOf outward change, there blooms a deathless flower,That breathes on earth the air of paradise.
Words in this poem
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From the Italian of Michael Angelo is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 3 (of 8), Project Gutenberg ebook #12383; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Wordsworth, From the Italian of Michael Angelo, in The Prelude, and Other Poems (1802–1815), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12383, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol3/from-the-italian-of-michael-angelo.html, id L17447.
Form and metre
From the Italian of Michael Angelo is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See 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 ABABCCBDD-EEE- paceA · unbetrayedB · graceA · madeB · pleaC · theeC · paidB · impartsD · heartsD · dies · hourE · powerE · flowerE · paradise
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Yes! hope may with my strong desire keep pace, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And I be undeluded, unbetrayed; | 10 | ·········˘ |
| For if of our affections none finds grace | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| In sight of Heaven, then, wherefore hath God made | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| The world which we inhabit? Better plea | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Love cannot have, than that in loving thee | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Glory to that eternal Peace is paid, | 10 | /˘··˘/˘··· |
| Who such divinity to thee imparts | 10 | ··˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| As hallows and makes pure all gentle hearts. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| His hope is treacherous only whose love dies | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| With beauty, which is varying every hour; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘/ |
| But, in chaste hearts uninfluenced by the power | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Of outward change, there blooms a deathless flower, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| That breathes on earth the air of paradise. | 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.