Analysis of Sonetto I

Gaspara Stampa 1523 (Padua) – 1554 (Venice)



LADIES, who of my lord would fain be told,
Picture a gentle knight, full sweet to see,
Though young in years, in wisdom passing old,
Model of glory and of valiancy;
Fair-haired, bright colour glowing in his face,
Tall and well-set, broad-shouldered, finally,
In all his parts a paragon of grace
Except in loving wantonly, ah me!
   Who'd know myself, picture a woman wrought
In passion and in presence after pain's
And death's own bitter images, a port
Of safety where untroubled rest remains;
One who with neither tears, nor sighs, nor zest
Wakes pity in her cruel lover's breast.


Scheme ABABCBCBDBEFGG
Poetic Form
Metre 1011111111 1001011111 1101010101 10110011 111110011 1011110100 011101011 0101010011 111100101 0100010101 0111010001 1101010101 1111011111 1100010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 589
Words 102
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 452
Words per stanza (avg) 100
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

31 sec read
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Gaspara Stampa

Gaspara Stampa was an Italian poet. more…

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