Love
Sonnet CXC (In Life): Far from His Beloved, Life is Miserable by Night as by Day
Translated by Major Macgregor (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
Never was bird, spoil'd of its young, more sad,
Or wild beast in his lair more lone than me,
Now that no more that lovely face I see,
The only sun my fond eyes ever had.
In ceaseless sorrow is my chief delight:
My food to poison turns, to grief my joy;
The night is torture, dark the clearest sky,
And my lone pillow a hard field of fight.
Sleep is indeed, as has been well express'd.
Akin to death, for it the heart removes
From the dear thought in which alone I live.
Land above all with plenty, beauty bless'd!
Ye flowery plains, green banks and shady groves!
Ye hold the treasure for whose loss I grieve!
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CXC (In Life): Far from His Beloved, Life is Miserable by Night as by Day.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/225/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CXC (In Life): Far from His Beloved, Life is Miserable by Night as by Day.” Translated by Major Macgregor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/225/.
Read this poem with the Codex →
More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Ballata II (In Life): He Invites His Eyes to Feast Themselves on Laura
- Sonnet LXVII (In Life): He Counsels Lovers to Flee, Rather Than Be Consumed by the Flames of Love
- Sonnet CXXVIII (In Life): Every Circumstance of His Passion is a Torment to Him
- Sestina VII (In Life): He Despairs of Escape from the Torments by Which He is Surrounded
- Sonnet XLII (In Death): Returning Spring Brings to Him Only Increase of Grief