Love
Sonnet CLXI (In Life): Journeying to Visit Laura, He Feels Renewed Ardour as He Approaches
Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
The gale, that o'er yon hills flings softer blue,
And wakes to life each bud that gems the glade,
I know; its breathings such impression made,
Wafting me fame, but wafting sorrow too:
My wearied soul to soothe, I bid adieu
To those dear Tuscan haunts I first survey'd;
And, to dispel the gloom around me spread,
I seek this day my cheering sun to view,
Whose sweet attraction is so strong, so great,
That Love again compels me to its light;
Then he so dazzles me, that vain were flight.
Not arms to brave, 'tis wings to 'scape, my fate
I ask; but by those beams I'm doom'd to die,
When distant which consume, and which enflame when nigh.
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXI (In Life): Journeying to Visit Laura, He Feels Renewed Ardour as He Approaches.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/193/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXI (In Life): Journeying to Visit Laura, He Feels Renewed Ardour as He Approaches.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/193/.
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More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Sonnet XXI (In Life): He Congratulates Boccaccio on His Return to the Right Path
- Sonnet LXXVII (In Life): He Sympathises with His Friend Orso at His Inability to Attend a Tournament
- Sonnet CXXXVIII (In Life): He Cannot End Her Cruelty, nor She His Hope
- Sonnet CCIX (In Life): He Invites Those to Whom His Praises Seem Excessive to Behold the Object of Them
- Sonnet LIII (In Death): The Sight of Laura's House Reminds Him of His Misery