Love

Sonnet XXXII (In Death): He Envies Earth, Heaven, and Death Their Possession of His Treasure

by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304–1374

Translated by Lord Woodhouselee (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Death

Love

O earth, whose clay-cold mantle shrouds that face,
And veils those eyes that late so brightly shone,
Whence all that gave delight on earth was known,
How much I envy thee that harsh embrace!
O heaven, that in thy airy courts confined
That purest spirit, when from earth she fled,
And sought the mansions of the righteous dead;
How envious, thus to leave my panting soul behind!
O angels, that in your seraphic choir
Received her sister-soul, and now enjoy
Still present, those delights without alloy,
Which my fond heart must still in vain desire!
In her I lived--in her my life decays;
Yet envious Fate denies to end my hapless days.

MLA

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet XXXII (In Death): He Envies Earth, Heaven, and Death Their Possession of His Treasure.” Translated by Lord Woodhouselee. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/299/.

Chicago

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet XXXII (In Death): He Envies Earth, Heaven, and Death Their Possession of His Treasure.” Translated by Lord Woodhouselee. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/299/.

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