Love

Sonnet CLXV (In Life): His Heart Lies Tangled in Her Hair

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life

Love

The pleasant gale, that to the sun unplaits
And spreads the gold Love's fingers weave, and braid
O'er her fine eyes, and all around her head,
Fetters my heart, the wishful sigh creates:
No nerve but thrills, no artery but beats,
Approaching my fair arbiter with dread,
Who in her doubtful scale hath ofttimes weigh'd
Whether or death or life on me awaits;
Beholding, too, those eyes their fires display,
And on those shoulders shine such wreaths of hair,
Whose witching tangles my poor heart ensnare.
But how this magic's wrought I cannot say;
For twofold radiance doth my reason blind,
And sweetness to excess palls and o'erpowers my mind.

MLA

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXV (In Life): His Heart Lies Tangled in Her Hair.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/197/.

Chicago

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXV (In Life): His Heart Lies Tangled in Her Hair.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/197/.

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