Love

Sonnet CLX (In Life): To See and Hear Her is His Greatest Bliss

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

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

Love

I feed my fancy on such noble food,
That Jove I envy not his godlike meal;
I see her--joy invades me like a flood,
And lethe of all other bliss I feel;
I hear her--instantly that music rare
Bids from my captive heart the fond sigh flow;
Borne by the hand of Love I know not where,
A double pleasure in one draught I know.
Even in heaven that dear voice pleaseth well,
So winning are its words, its sound so sweet,
None can conceive, save who had heard, their spell;
Thus, in the same small space, visibly, meet
All charms of eye and ear wherewith our race
Art, Genius, Nature, Heaven have join'd to grace.

MLA

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLX (In Life): To See and Hear Her is His Greatest Bliss.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/192/.

Chicago

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLX (In Life): To See and Hear Her is His Greatest Bliss.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/192/.

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