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
Download them all in English or Italian
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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
Non pò far Morte il dolce viso amaro,
ma 'l dolce viso dolce pò far Morte.
Che bisogn'a morir ben altre scorte?
Quella mi scorge ond'ogni ben imparo;

et Quei che del Suo sangue non fu avaro,
che col pe' ruppe le tartaree porte,
col Suo morir par che mi riconforte.
Dunque vien', Morte: il tuo venir m'è caro.

Et non tardar, ch'egli è ben tempo omai;
et se non fusse, e' fu 'l tempo in quel punto
che madonna passò di questa vita.

D'allor innanzi un dí non vissi mai:
seco fui in via, et seco al fin son giunto,
et mia giornata ò co' suoi pie' fornita.
Death cannot make that sweet face bitter,
but her sweet face can make Death sweet.
What better guide do I need to dying?
She shows me that from which I learn all good:

and He who was not sparing of His blood,
who with his foot shattered the gates of Hell,
seems by His dying to comfort me.
So come, Death: your coming is dear to me.

And don't delay, now is the right time:
unless it had come at that point in time
when my lady passed from this life.

I've not been alive one day since then:
I was hers in life, and hers to the end,
and, with her footsteps, my days are gone.


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

A Merentha Entertainment Project


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