Love

Sonnet CX (In Life): He Likens Himself to the Insect Which, Flying into One's Eyes, Meets Its Death

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

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

Love

As when at times in summer's scorching heats.
Lured by the light, the simple insect flies,
As a charm'd thing, into the passer's eyes,
Whence death the one and pain the other meets,
Thus ever I, my fatal sun to greet,
Rush to those eyes where so much sweetness lies
That reason's guiding hand fierce Love defies,
And by strong will is better judgment beat.
I clearly see they value me but ill,
And, for against their torture fails my strength.
That I am doom'd my life to lose at length:
But Love so dazzles and deludes me still,
My heart their pain and not my loss laments,
And blind, to its own death my soul consents.

MLA

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CX (In Life): He Likens Himself to the Insect Which, Flying into One's Eyes, Meets Its Death.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/140/.

Chicago

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CX (In Life): He Likens Himself to the Insect Which, Flying into One's Eyes, Meets Its Death.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/140/.

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