Love
Sonnet CLXVII (In Life): He Returns the Glove, Bewailing the Effect of Her Beauty
Translated by Major Macgregor (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
Not of one dear hand only I complain,
Which hides it, to my loss, again from view,
But its fair fellow and her soft arms too
Are prompt my meek and passive heart to pain.
Love spreads a thousand toils, nor one in vain,
Amid the many charms, bright, pure, and new,
That so her high and heavenly part endue,
No style can equal it, no mind attain.
That starry forehead and those tranquil eyes,
The fair angelic mouth, where pearl and rose
Contrast each other, whence rich music flows,
These fill the gazer with a fond surprise,
The fine head, the bright tresses which defied
The sun to match them in his noonday pride.
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXVII (In Life): He Returns the Glove, Bewailing the Effect of Her Beauty.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/199/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXVII (In Life): He Returns the Glove, Bewailing the Effect of Her Beauty.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/199/.
Read this poem with the Codex →
More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Sonnet XXV (In Life): He Consoles Himself That His Life is Advancing to Its Close
- Canzone XI (In Life): Enigmas
- Sonnet CXLV (In Life): He Hears the Voice of Reason, but Cannot Obey
- Sonnet CCXVII (In Life): Contrary to the Wont of Lovers, He Prefers Morn to Eve
- Sonnet LVII (In Death): He Reverts to Their Last Meeting