Love

Sonnet CLVII (In Life): The Vision of the Fawn

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

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

Love

Beneath a laurel, two fair streams between,
At early sunrise of the opening year,
A milk-white fawn upon the meadow green,
Of gold its either horn, I saw appear;
So mild, yet so majestic, was its mien,
I left, to follow, all my labours here,
As miners after treasure, in the keen
Desire of new, forget the old to fear.
"Let none impede"--so, round its fair neck, run
The words in diamond and topaz writ--
"My lord to give me liberty sees fit."
And now the sun his noontide height had won
When I, with weary though unsated view,
Fell in the stream--and so my vision flew.

MLA

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLVII (In Life): The Vision of the Fawn.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/189/.

Chicago

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLVII (In Life): The Vision of the Fawn.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/189/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)