Love
Sonnet IV (In Death): Past, Present, and Future Are Now Alike Painful to Him
anonymous (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Death
Life passes quick, nor will a moment stay,
And death with hasty journeys still draws near;
And all the present joins my soul to tear,
With every past and every future day:
And to look back or forward, so does prey
On this distracted breast, that sure I swear,
Did I not to myself some pity bear,
I were e'en now from all these thoughts away.
Much do I muse on what of pleasures past
This woe-worn heart has known; meanwhile, t' oppose
My passage, loud the winds around me roar.
I see my bliss in port, and torn my mast
And sails, my pilot faint with toil, and those
Fair lights, that wont to guide me, now no more.
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet IV (In Death): Past, Present, and Future Are Now Alike Painful to Him.” Translated by anonymous. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/271/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet IV (In Death): Past, Present, and Future Are Now Alike Painful to Him.” Translated by anonymous. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/271/.
Read this poem with the Codex →
More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Sonnet XXXVII (In Life): Laura at Her Looking-Glass
- Sonnet XCV (In Life): Though He is Unhappy, His Love Remains Ever Unchanged
- Sonnet CLIX (In Life): To Love, on Laura Walking Abroad
- Sonnet CCXXVI (In Life): Hope Alone Supports Him in His Misery
- Sonnet LXVIII (In Death): Her Praises Are, Compared with Her Deserts, but as a Drop to the Ocean