Volta project, #132

And here’s this afternoon’s sonnet:

_______________________________________

CXXXII

  Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me,

  Knowing thy heart torment me with disdain,

  Have put on black and loving mourners be,

  Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain.

  And truly not the morning sun of heaven

  Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east,

  Nor that full star that ushers in the even,

  Doth half that glory to the sober west,

  As those two mourning eyes become thy face:

  O! let it then as well beseem thy heart

  To mourn for me since mourning doth thee grace,

  And suit thy pity like in every part.

    Then will I swear beauty herself is black,

    And all they foul that thy complexion lack.

_______________________________________

This would be a beautiful example of what’s called Husn-e ta’liil (rough translation:  elegance in assigning a cause) in Indo-Persian poetry:  The eyes are black, and the poem starts out with an explanation of exactly why they are black  J  Also caught my eye:  Semantically speaking, line 9 really belongs to the second quatrain.  The O! at the beginning of the following line is a volta, and the then at the beginning of the closing couplet is another.  More tomorrow  J