Sonnet XV. From Petrarch

Charlotte Smith 1749 (London) – 1806 (Tilford, Surrey)



WHERE the green leaves exclude the summer beam,
And softly bend as balmy breezes blow,
And where, with liquid lapse, the lucid stream
Across the fretted rock is heard to flow,
Pensive I lay: when she whom Earth conceals,
As if still living, to my eyes appears,
And pitying Heaven her angel form reveals,
To say--'Unhappy Petrarch, dry your tears:
'Ah! why, sad lover! thus before your time,
In grief and sadness should your life decay,
And like a blighted flower, your manly prime
In vain and hopeless sorrow fade away?
Ah! yield not thus to culpable despair,
But raise thine eyes to Heaven--and think I wait thee there.'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

33 sec read
225

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCEFGFGHH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 616
Words 112
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Charlotte Smith

Charlotte Turner Smith was an English Romantic poet and novelist. She initiated a revival of the English sonnet, helped establish the conventions of Gothic fiction, and wrote political novels of sensibility. A successful writer, she published ten novels, three books of poetry, four children's books, and other assorted works over the course of her career. She saw herself as a poet first and foremost, poetry at that period being considered the most exalted form of literature. Scholars now credit her with transforming the sonnet into an expression of woeful sentiment. more…

All Charlotte Smith poems | Charlotte Smith Books

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    A poem consisting of 14 lines, typically with a specific rhyme scheme, is called a _______.
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    B limerick
    C haiku
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