Love

Sonnet CLXXII (In Life): He Consoles Himself with the Thought That He Will Be Envied by Posterity

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

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

Love

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?"

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/.

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