Love

Sonnet CXCVIII (In Life): He No Longer Finds Relief in Solitude

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

Translated by Miss Wollaston (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life

Love

Thou little chamber'd haven to the woes
Whose daily tempest overwhelms my soul!
From shame, I in Heaven's light my grief control;
Thou art its fountain, which each night o'erflows.
My couch! that oft hath woo'd me to repose,
'Mid sorrows vast--Love's iv'ried hand hath stole
Griefs turgid stream, which o'er thee it doth roll,
That hand which good on all but me bestows.
Not only quiet and sweet rest I fly,
But from myself and thought, whose vain pursuit
On pinion'd fancy doth my soul transport:
The multitude I did so long defy,
Now as my hope and refuge I salute,
So much I tremble solitude to court.

MLA

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CXCVIII (In Life): He No Longer Finds Relief in Solitude.” Translated by Miss Wollaston. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/233/.

Chicago

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet CXCVIII (In Life): He No Longer Finds Relief in Solitude.” Translated by Miss Wollaston. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/233/.

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