Love

Sonnet XI (In Life): He Hopes That Time Will Render Her More Merciful

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

Translated by Rev. Francis Wrangham (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life

Love

If o'er each bitter pang, each hidden throe
Sadly triumphant I my years drag on,
Till even the radiance of those eyes is gone,
Lady, which star-like now illume thy brow;
And silver'd are those locks of golden glow,
And wreaths and robes of green aside are thrown,
And from thy cheek those hues of beauty flown,
Which check'd so long the utterance of my woe,
Haply my bolder tongue may then reveal
The bosom'd annals of my heart's fierce fire,
The martyr-throbs that now in night I veil:
And should the chill Time frown on young Desire.
Still, still some late remorse that breast may feel,
And heave a tardy sigh--ere love with life expire.

MLA

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet XI (In Life): He Hopes That Time Will Render Her More Merciful.” Translated by Rev. Francis Wrangham. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/11/.

Chicago

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet XI (In Life): He Hopes That Time Will Render Her More Merciful.” Translated by Rev. Francis Wrangham. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/11/.

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