Love
Sonnet CLXX (In Life): Posterity Will Accord to Him the Pity Which Laura Refuses
Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
Alas, with ardour past belief I glow!
None doubt this truth, except one only fair,
Who all excels, for whom alone I care;
She plainly sees, yet disbelieves my woe.
O rich in charms, but poor in faith! canst thou
Look in these eyes, nor read my whole heart there?
Were I not fated by my baleful star,
For me from pity's fount might favour flow.
My flame, of which thou tak'st so little heed,
And thy high praises pour'd through all my song,
O'er many a breast may future influence spread:
These, my sweet fair, so warns prophetic thought,
Closed thy bright eye, and mute thy poet's tongue,
E'en after death shall still with sparks be fraught.
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXX (In Life): Posterity Will Accord to Him the Pity Which Laura Refuses.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/202/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXX (In Life): Posterity Will Accord to Him the Pity Which Laura Refuses.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/202/.
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More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Canzone IX (In Life): In Praise of Laura's Eyes: They Lead Him to Contemplate the Path of Life
- Sonnet CXIII (In Life): His Invincible Constancy
- Sonnet CLXXXVI (In Life): Not Finding Her with Her Friends, He Asks Them Why She is Absent
- Sonnet XXVII (In Death): He Comforts Himself with the Hope That She Hears Him
- Sonnet LIX (Part I)