Love
Sonnet XIII (In Life): On Quitting Laura
Translated by Major Macgregor (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
With weary frame which painfully I bear,
I look behind me at each onward pace,
And then take comfort from your native air,
Which following fans my melancholy face;
The far way, my frail life, the cherish'd fair
Whom thus I leave, as then my thoughts retrace,
I fix my feet in silent pale despair,
And on the earth my tearful eyes abase.
At times a doubt, too, rises on my woes,
"How ever can this weak and wasted frame
Live from life's spirit and one source afar?"
Love's answer soon the truth forgotten shows--
"This high pure privilege true lovers claim,
Who from mere human feelings franchised are!"
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet XIII (In Life): On Quitting Laura.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/14/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet XIII (In Life): On Quitting Laura.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/14/.
Read this poem with the Codex →
More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Sonnet XXXVII (In Life): Laura at Her Looking-Glass
- Sonnet XCV (In Life): Though He is Unhappy, His Love Remains Ever Unchanged
- Sonnet CLVIII (In Life): All His Happiness is in Gazing upon Her
- Canzone XXI (In Life): Self-Conflict
- Sonnet LXV (In Death): He No Longer Contemplates the Mortal, but the Immortal Beauties of Laura