Love
Sonnet CLXXII (In Life): He Consoles Himself with the Thought That He Will Be Envied by Posterity
Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
Sweet scorn, sweet anger, and sweet misery,
Forgiveness sweet, sweet burden, and sweet ill;
Sweet accents that mine ear so sweetly thrill,
That sweetly bland, now sweetly fierce can be.
Mourn not, my soul, but suffer silently;
And those embitter'd sweets thy cup that fill
With the sweet honour blend of loving still
Her whom I told: "Thou only pleasest me."
Hereafter, moved with envy, some may say:
"For that high-boasted beauty of his day
Enough the bard has borne!" then heave a sigh.
Others: "Oh! why, most hostile Fortune, why
Could not these eyes that lovely form survey?
Why was she early born, or wherefore late was I?"
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXXII (In Life): He Consoles Himself with the Thought That He Will Be Envied by Posterity.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/204/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXXII (In Life): He Consoles Himself with the Thought That He Will Be Envied by Posterity.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/204/.
Read this poem with the Codex →
More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Sonnet XXII (In Life): On the Same Subject
- Sonnet LXXVIII (In Life): To a Friend, Counselling Him to Abandon Earthly Pleasures
- Sonnet CXXXIX (In Life): Envy May Disturb, but Cannot Destroy His Hope
- Sonnet CCX (In Life): Whoever Beholds Her Must Admit That His Praises Cannot Reach Her Perfection
- Sonnet LIV (In Death): To the Memory of Giacomo Colonna, Who Died Before Petrarch Could Reply to a Letter of His