Love
Sonnet CLXXXVII (In Life): His Nights Are, Like His Days, Passed in Torment
Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
When in the sea sinks the sun's golden light,
And on my mind and nature darkness lies,
With the pale moon, faint stars and clouded skies
I pass a weary and a painful night:
To her who hears me not I then rehearse
My sad life's fruitless toils, early and late;
And with the world and with my gloomy fate,
With Love, with Laura and myself, converse.
Sleep is forbid me: I have no repose,
But sighs and groans instead, till morn returns,
And tears, with which mine eyes a sad heart feeds;
Then comes the dawn, the thick air clearer grows,
But not my soul; the sun which in it burns
Alone can cure the grief his fierce warmth breeds.
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXXXVII (In Life): His Nights Are, Like His Days, Passed in Torment.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/222/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CLXXXVII (In Life): His Nights Are, Like His Days, Passed in Torment.” Translated by Rev. Dr. Nott. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/222/.
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More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Sonnet XXXIX (In Life): He Desires Again to Gaze on the Eyes of Laura
- Sonnet XCVI (In Life): To Antonio of Ferrara, Who, in a Poem, Had Lamented Petrarch's Supposed Death
- Sonnet CLXI (In Life): Journeying to Visit Laura, He Feels Renewed Ardour as He Approaches
- Canzone II (In Death): Unless Love Can Restore Her to Life, He Will Never Again Be His Slave
- Sonnet LXX (In Death): His Prayer is Heard