Love

Ballata II (In Life): He Invites His Eyes to Feast Themselves on Laura

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

Translated by Major Macgregor (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life

Love

My wearied eyes! while looking thus
On that fair fatal face to us,
Be wise, be brief, for--hence my sighs--
Already Love our bliss denies.
Death only can the amorous track
Shut from my thoughts which leads them back
To the sweet port of all their weal;
But lesser objects may conceal
Our light from you, that meaner far
In virtue and perfection are.
Wherefore, poor eyes! ere yet appears,
Already nigh, the time of tears,
Now, after long privation past,
Look, and some comfort take at last.

MLA

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Ballata II (In Life): He Invites His Eyes to Feast Themselves on Laura.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/13/.

Chicago

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Ballata II (In Life): He Invites His Eyes to Feast Themselves on Laura.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/13/.

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