Love
Sonnet CXXX (In Life): He Cares Not for Sufferings, So That He Displease Not Laura
Translated by Rev. Francis Wrangham (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
Love, thou who seest each secret thought display'd,
And the sad steps I take, with thee sole guide;
This throbbing breast, to thee thrown open wide,
To others' prying barr'd, thine eyes pervade.
Thou know'st what efforts, following thee, I made,
While still from height to height thy pinions glide;
Nor deign'st one pitying look to turn aside
On him who, fainting, treads a trackless glade.
I mark from far the mildly-beaming ray
To which thou goad'st me through the devious maze;
Alas! I want thy wings, to speed my way--
Henceforth, a distant homager, I'll gaze,
Content by silent longings to decay,
So that my sighs for her in her no anger raise.
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CXXX (In Life): He Cares Not for Sufferings, So That He Displease Not Laura.” Translated by Rev. Francis Wrangham. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/162/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CXXX (In Life): He Cares Not for Sufferings, So That He Displease Not Laura.” Translated by Rev. Francis Wrangham. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/162/.
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More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Sonnet XLI (In Life): In Her Presence He Can Neither Speak, Weep, nor Sigh
- Sonnet XCVII (In Life): E'en in Our Ashes Live Our Wonted Fires
- Sonnet CLXV (In Life): His Heart Lies Tangled in Her Hair
- Sonnet III (In Death): On the Death of Another Lady
- Sonnet LXXI (In Death): He Describes the Apparition of Laura