Love

Sonnet CLXXVIII (In Life): The Enchantments That Enthrall Him

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

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

Love

Graces, that liberal Heaven on few bestows;
Rare excellence, scarce known to human kind;
With youth's bright locks age's ripe judgment join'd;
Celestial charms, which a meek mortal shows;
An elegance unmatch'd; and lips, whence flows
Music that can the sense in fetters bind;
A goddess step; a lovely ardent mind,
That breaks the stubborn, and the haughty bows;
Eyes, whose refulgence petrifies the heart,
To glooms, to shades that can a light impart,
Lift high the lover's soul, or plunge it low;
Speech link'd by tenderness and dignity;
With many a sweetly-interrupted sigh;
Such are the witcheries that transform me so.

MLA

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXXVIII (In Life): The Enchantments That Enthrall Him.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/212/.

Chicago

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXXVIII (In Life): The Enchantments That Enthrall Him.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/212/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)