From Petrarch

“From Petrarch,” by Charlotte Smith could be first seen as a love sonnet as the speaker proclaims their love to a woman that is like a goddess. It begins by telling of the woman’s physical beauty, but questions how that might have deceived the speaker. They come to realize continue to tell how the woman is like a goddess; the reader begins to see that this poem is not of a current love, rather a former love who has broken the heart of the speaker.
The sonnet begins with a reference to the Greek god Zephyr who is the god of the west wind. The west wind comes during spring time, which is the season of love and fertility. Though Zephyr had many loves and wives, he had his heart broken when he lost out to the god Apollo while both tried to court a Spartan man. I believe most readers would assume the speaker of the poem is a man, but the knowledge of Zephyr’s attempt to court a man brings the speakers sex into question. The poem never specifies if the speaker is a man or a woman, but with the reference to Zephyr one could say it is a woman speaking of her same sex love interest. This love interest seems to be solely physical, and that is when they question the love.
At line five which begins “Was I deceived?” hints to the reader that this is a sonnet about a broken heart. They know that they may have been seduced by the charm and looks of this woman which could have been false love, but as it was happening at the time they did not care and fell under her spell. The speaker continues to glorify this woman: “They soft melodious voice, thy air, thy shape, / Were of a goddess—not a mortal maid” (lines 9-10). This obsession just creates a larger potential for an enormous letdown and tragic heartbreak that occurs immediately after.
Yet though thy charms, thy heavenly charms should fade,
My heart, my tender heart could not escape;
No cure for me in time or change be found:
The shaft extracted does not cure the wound!
The speaker explains that they are still in love with this woman even after she begins to lose her charm. They feel that they will never heal from this horrible feeling of heartache. “The shaft extracted” can be thought of either as the woman actually leaving the speaker leaving a gaping wound. Or it could be seen as the sonnet itself as telling this story could have been a way to try to relieve the pain. The last two lines make it painful for the reader as the ending words end similarly but they do not sound the same. It is almost emphasizing the pain the speaker is in as it is painful to want to rhyme the two words but be unable to.
This sonnet brings about the pain and heartache of losing someone you love and lust for. The speaker brings forth all the qualities in the woman that they loved, which in essence makes the pain harder to deal with. The poem begins cheery and adoring, but ends in a depression as the pain of the heartache is still there like an open wound.