Love
Sonnet V (In Life): He Plays upon the Name Laureta or Laura
anonymous (in Bohn, 1879) · From To Laura in Life
In sighs when I outbreathe your cherish'd name,
That name which love has writ upon my heart,
LAUd instantly upon my doting tongue,
At the first thought of its sweet sound, is heard;
Your REgal state, which I encounter next,
Doubles my valour in that high emprize:
But TAcit ends the word; your praise to tell
Is fitting load for better backs than mine.
Thus all who call you, by the name itself,
Are taught at once to LAUd and to REvere,
O worthy of all reverence and esteem!
Save that perchance Apollo may disdain
That mortal tongue of his immortal boughs
Should ever so presume as e'en to speak.
Cite this poem
MLA
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet V (In Life): He Plays upon the Name Laureta or Laura.” Translated by anonymous. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/4/.
Chicago
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch). “Sonnet V (In Life): He Plays upon the Name Laureta or Laura.” Translated by anonymous. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/petrarch/4/.
Read this poem with the Codex →
More by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Sonnet XLIV (In Life): Few Are the Sweets, but Many the Bitters of Love
- Sonnet C (In Life): Though Far from Laura, Solitary and Unhappy, Envy Still Pursues Him
- Sonnet CLXXI (In Life): He Rejoices at Being on Earth with Her, as He is Thereby Enabled Better to Imitate Her Virtues
- Sonnet IX (In Death): He Describes His Sad State
- Sonnet LXXVII (In Death): His Only Comfort is the Expectation of Meeting Her Again in Heaven