Love
Sonnet CLXIV (In Life): Her Hair and Eyes
Translated by Major Macgregor (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
The heavenly airs from yon green laurel roll'd,
Where Love to Phoebus whilom dealt his stroke,
Where on my neck was placed so sweet a yoke,
That freedom thence I hope not to behold,
O'er me prevail, as o'er that Arab old
Medusa, when she changed him to an oak;
Nor ever can the fairy knot be broke
Whose light outshines the sun, not merely gold;
I mean of those bright locks the curlèd snare
Which folds and fastens with so sweet a grace
My soul, whose humbleness defends alone.
Her mere shade freezes with a cold despair
My heart, and tinges with pale fear my face;
And oh! her eyes have power to make me stone.
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXIV (In Life): Her Hair and Eyes.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/196/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXIV (In Life): Her Hair and Eyes.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/196/.
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More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Sonnet L (In Life): He Prays Love to Kindle Also in Her the Flame by Which He is Unceasingly Tormented
- Sonnet CVII (In Life): He Attributes the Wickedness of the Court of Rome to Its Great Wealth
- Sestina VI (In Life): The History of His Love; and Prayer for Help
- Sonnet XX (In Death): Vaucluse Has Become to Him a Scene of Pain
- Sonnet LXXXVI (In Death): He Humbly Confesses the Errors of His Past Life, and Prays for Divine Grace