Love
Sonnet CLVIII (In Life): All His Happiness is in Gazing upon Her
Translated by Major Macgregor (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
As life eternal is with God to be,
No void left craving, there of all possess'd,
So, lady mine, to be with you makes blest,
This brief frail span of mortal life to me.
So fair as now ne'er yet was mine to see--
If truth from eyes to heart be well express'd--
Lovely and blessèd spirit of my breast,
Which levels all high hopes and wishes free.
Nor would I more demand if less of haste
She show'd to part; for if, as legends tell
And credence find, are some who live by smell,
On water some, or fire who touch and taste,
All, things which neither strength nor sweetness give,
Why should not I upon your dear sight live?
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLVIII (In Life): All His Happiness is in Gazing upon Her.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/190/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLVIII (In Life): All His Happiness is in Gazing upon Her.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/190/.
Read this poem with the Codex →
More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Sonnet XLV (In Life): To His Friend Agapito, with a Present
- Sonnet CI (In Life): Reply to a Sonnet of Jacopo Da Lentino
- Canzone XX (In Life): He Cannot Live Without Seeing Her, but Would Not Die That He May Still Love Her
- Sonnet XII (In Death): Vaucluse
- Sonnet LXXXI (In Death): Since Her Death He Has Ceased to Live