Love
Ballata I (In Life): Perceiving His Passion, Laura's Severity Increases
Translated by Capel Lofft (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
Never thy veil, in sun or in the shade,
Lady, a moment I have seen
Quitted, since of my heart the queen
Mine eyes confessing thee my heart betray'd
While my enamour'd thoughts I kept conceal'd.
Those fond vain hopes by which I die,
In thy sweet features kindness beam'd:
Changed was the gentle language of thine eye
Soon as my foolish heart itself reveal'd;
And all that mildness which I changeless deem'd--
All, all withdrawn which most my soul esteem'd.
Yet still the veil I must obey,
Which, whatsoe'er the aspect of the day,
Thine eyes' fair radiance hides, my life to overshade.
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Ballata I (In Life): Perceiving His Passion, Laura's Severity Increases.” Translated by Capel Lofft. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/10/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Ballata I (In Life): Perceiving His Passion, Laura's Severity Increases.” Translated by Capel Lofft. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/10/.
Read this poem with the Codex →
More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Sonnet XLIX (In Life): He Entreats Laura Not to Hate the Heart from Which She Can Never Be Absent
- Sonnet CVII (In Life): He Attributes the Wickedness of the Court of Rome to Its Great Wealth
- Sonnet CLXXVI (In Life): He Describes His State, Specifying the Date of His Attachment
- Sonnet XVI (In Death): The Remembrance of Her Chases Sadness from His Heart
- Sonnet LXXXII (In Death): He Awakes to a Conviction of the Near Approach of Death