Analysis of There is a Gentle Thought

Dante Alighieri 1265 (Florence) – 1321 (Ravenna)



There is a gentle thought that often springs
to life in me, because it speaks of you.
Its reasoning about love’s so sweet and true,
the heart is conquered, and accepts these things.
‘Who is this’ the mind enquires of the heart,
‘who comes here to seduce our intellect?
Is his power so great we must reject
every other intellectual art?
The heart replies ‘O, meditative mind
this is love’s messenger and newly sent
to bring me all Love’s words and desires.
His life, and all the strength that he can find,
from her sweet eyes are mercifully lent,
who feels compassion for our inner fires.’


Scheme ABBACDDCEFGEFG
Poetic Form
Metre 1101011101 1101011111 11000111101 0111000111 111011101 1111011010 1110111101 1001001001 010111001 1111000101 1111110010 1101011111 1011110001 110101101010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 599
Words 109
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 461
Words per stanza (avg) 106
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

32 sec read
125

Dante Alighieri

Durante degli Alighieri, simply referred to as Dante, was a major Italian poet of the Middle Ages. more…

All Dante Alighieri poems | Dante Alighieri Books

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