Petrarch Laura Francesco Petrarch and Laura For a woman he would never know
For a woman he could never have
He should change the world forever
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Petrarch:The Canzoniere

Translated by: A.S.Kline
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Information on the sonnet is available here.
Looking for an analysis of a specific poem from the Canzoniere?
Read I go thinking an analysis of poem 264 by Holly Barbaccia.


ITALIAN ENGLISH
Quante fïate, al mio dolce ricetto
fuggendo altrui et, s'esser pò, me stesso,
vo con gli occhi bagnando l'erba e 'l petto,
rompendo co' sospir' l'aere da presso!

Quante fïate sol, pien di sospetto,
per luoghi ombrosi et foschi mi son messo,
cercando col penser l'alto diletto
che Morte à tolto, ond'io la chiamo spesso!

Or in forma di ninpha o d'altra diva
che del piú chiaro fondo di Sorga esca,
et pongasi a sedere in su la riva;

or l'ò veduto su per l'erba fresca
calcare i fior' com'una donna viva,
mostrando in vista che di me le 'ncresca.
How often I come to my sweet retreat,
fleeing from others, and, if I could, myself,
bathing the grass and my breast with tears,
troubling the air I touch with sighs!

How often, alone and anxious I've gone
through dark and shadowy places,
seeking my noble joy, whom Death has taken,
in thought, so that I often call out to her!

Now in the shape of a nymph or other goddess
rising from the Sorgue's crystal depths,
she comes to sit on the river-bank:

now I have seen her on the fresh grass,
treading the flowers like a living woman,
showing she pities me by her look.


© Copyright 1999-2006
Peter Sadlon
Updated Sept 10th 2007

A Merentha Entertainment Project


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