Love

Sonnet CLXII (In Life): His Wounds Can Be Healed Only by Pity or Death

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

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

Love

I alter day by day in hair and mien,
Yet shun not the old dangerous baits and dear,
Nor sever from the laurel, limed and green,
Which nor the scorching sun, nor fierce cold sear.
Dry shall the sea, the sky be starless seen,
Ere I shall cease to covet and to fear
Her lovely shadow, and--which ill I screen--
To like, yet loathe, the deep wound cherish'd here:
For never hope I respite from my pain,
From bones and nerves and flesh till I am free,
Unless mine enemy some pity deign,
Till things impossible accomplish'd be,
None but herself or death the blow can heal
Which Love from her bright eyes has left my heart to feel.

MLA

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXII (In Life): His Wounds Can Be Healed Only by Pity or Death.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/194/.

Chicago

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXII (In Life): His Wounds Can Be Healed Only by Pity or Death.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/194/.

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