Love
Sonnet CLX (In Life): To See and Hear Her is His Greatest Bliss
Translated by Major Macgregor (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
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.
Cite this poem
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/.
Read this poem with the Codex →
More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Ballata I (In Life): Perceiving His Passion, Laura's Severity Increases
- Sonnet LXIV (In Life): He Loves, and Will Always Love, the Spot and the Hour in Which He First Became Enamoured of Laura
- Sonnet CXXV (In Life): Her Image is Ever in His Heart
- Sonnet CXCVIII (In Life): He No Longer Finds Relief in Solitude
- Sonnet XXXIX (In Death): Unworthy to Have Looked upon Her, He is Still More So to Attempt Her Praises