Analysis of Deep in thoughts of love, I came
Guido Cavalcanti 1255 (Florence) – 1300 (Florence)
Deep in thoughts of love, I came
On two young maids,
One sang: ‘It rains
On us, the joy of love.’
Their faces were so calm and sweet,
With modesty and courtesy,
I said to them: ‘You hold the key
Of all virtue and nobility.
Ah, young maids, do not scorn me
Because of the wound that I carry,
My heart has been dead inside me
Since I left Toulouse.’
They turned their gaze towards me so
They might see how I was wounded
And how a spirit born of sorrow
From my wound’s deep centre issued.
When they saw me so destroyed,
One of them smiled and said:
‘See how this man is conquered
By the power of love.’
The other filled with mercy, pity,
Made for joy, in Love’s likeness,
Said: ‘Your heart’s wound I see
Came from eyes of such excess,
Such power, they left within, a brightness
I cannot endure:
Tell me if you recall
Those eyes in you.’
To this harsh and fearful question
That the young maid asked of me,
I said: ‘In Toulouse I remember
There appeared an elegant lady,
Whom Love called la Mandetta: she
Struck me so fiercely, suddenly
To death, with her eyes, inwardly,
Through and through.’
She who had laughed at me before
Now replied most courteously:
‘She, who set herself with Love’s power
In your heart, gazed so fixedly
Into and through your eyes, that she
Made Love, himself, appear there.
If it’s deeply that you suffer
Turn to Love.’
Go to Toulouse, my little ballad,
Enter the Gilded Church there quietly,
Ask of some lovely lady, clearly,
To take you, out of courtesy,
To her of whom I told you fully:
And if you are received,
Say to her softly: ‘See,
For mercy I come to you.’
Scheme | XXXA XBBBBBBX CDCXXXXA BEBXEXFG XBHBBBBG XFHFBXHA DBBBBXBG |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011111 1111 1111 110111 11001101 11000100 11111101 111000100 1111111 011011110 11111011 11101 11110111 11111110 010101110 11111010 1111101 111101 1111110 101011 010111010 1110110 111111 111111 1101101010 11001 11111 1101 11101010 1011111 110011010 101110010 111111 11110100 11101100 101 11111101 10111 111011110 011111 01011111 1101011 11101110 111 110111010 1001011100 111101010 11111100 101111110 011101 110101 1101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,585 |
Words | 309 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 52 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 173 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:32 min read
- 29 Views
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"Deep in thoughts of love, I came" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42986/deep-in-thoughts-of-love%2C-i-came>.
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