Love

Sonnet CXXII (In Life): Laura in Tears

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

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

Love

High Jove to thunder ne'er was so intent,
So resolute great Cæsar ne'er to strike,
That pity had not quench'd the ire of both,
And from their hands the accustom'd weapons shook.
Madonna wept: my Lord decreed that I
Should see her then, and there her sorrows hear;
So joy, desire should fill me to the brim,
Thrilling my very marrow and my bones.
Love show'd to me, nay, sculptured on my heart,
That sweet and sparkling tear, and those soft words
Wrote with a diamond on its inmost core,
Where with his constant and ingenious keys
He still returneth often, to draw thence
True tears of mine and long and heavy sighs.

MLA

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CXXII (In Life): Laura in Tears.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/154/.

Chicago

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CXXII (In Life): Laura in Tears.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/154/.

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