Love
Sonnet XIX (In Life): His Heart, Rejected by Laura, Will Perish, Unless She Relent
Translated by Major Macgregor (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
A thousand times, sweet warrior, have I tried,
Proffering my heart to thee, some peace to gain
From those bright eyes, but still, alas! in vain,
To such low level stoops not thy chaste pride.
If others seek the love thus thrown aside,
Vain were their hopes and labours to obtain;
The heart thou spurnest I alike disdain,
To thee displeasing, 'tis by me denied.
But if, discarded thus, it find not thee
Its joyless exile willing to befriend,
Alone, untaught at others' will to wend,
Soon from life's weary burden will it flee.
How heavy then the guilt to both, but more
To thee, for thee it did the most adore.
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet XIX (In Life): His Heart, Rejected by Laura, Will Perish, Unless She Relent.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/20/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet XIX (In Life): His Heart, Rejected by Laura, Will Perish, Unless She Relent.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/20/.
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More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Madrigale I (In Life): Anything That Reminds Him of Laura Renews His Torments
- Canzone XIII (In Life): He Seeks in Vain to Mitigate His Woe
- Sonnet CLXV (In Life): His Heart Lies Tangled in Her Hair
- Sonnet IV (In Death): Past, Present, and Future Are Now Alike Painful to Him
- Sonnet LXXII (In Death): He Would Die of Grief Were She Not Sometimes to Console Him by Her Presence