Collected Poetical Works of Francesco Petrarch

by Francesco Petrarch

  Am I, and even in summer closed my year.

  My bliss no human thought can understand:

  Thee only I await; and, that erewhile

  You held so dear, the veil I left behind.” —

  She ceased — ah why? Why did she loose my hand?

  For oh! her hallow’d words, her roseate smile

  In heaven had well nigh fix’d my ravish’d mind!

  CHARLEMONT.

  SONNET XXXV.

  Amor che meco al buon tempo ti stavi.

  HE VENTS HIS SORROW TO ALL WHO WITNESSED HIS FORMER FELICITY.

  Love, that in happier days wouldst meet me here

  Along these meads that nursed our kindred strains;

  And that old debt to clear which still remains,

  Sweet converse with the stream and me wouldst share:

  Ye flowers, leaves, grass, woods, grots, rills, gentle air,

  Low valleys, lofty hills, and sunny plains:

  The harbour where I stored my love-sick pains,

  And all my various chance, my racking care:

  Ye playful inmates of the greenwood shade;

  Ye nymphs, and ye that in the waves pursue

  That life its cool and grassy bottom lends: —

  My days were once so fair; now dark and dread

  As death that makes them so. Thus the world through

  On each as soon as born his fate attends.

  ANON., OX., 1795.

  On these green banks in happier days I stray’d

  With Love, who whisper’d many a tender tale;

  And the glad waters, winding through the dale,

  Heard the sweet eloquence fond Love display’d.

  You, purpled plain, cool grot, and arching glade;

  Ye hills, ye streams, where plays the silken gale;

  Ye pathless wilds, you rock-encircled vale

  Which oft have beard the tender plaints I made;

  Ye blue-hair’d nymphs, who ceaseless revel keep,

  In the cool bosom of the crystal deep;

  Ye woodland maids who climb the mountain’s brow;

  Ye mark’d how joy once wing’d each hour so gay;

  Ah, mark how sad each hour now wears away!

  So fate with human bliss blends human woe!

  ANON. 1777.

  SONNET XXXVI.

  Mentre che ‘l cor dagli amorosi vermi.

  HAD SHE NOT DIED SO EARLY, HE WOULD HAVE LEARNED TO PRAISE HER MORE WORTHILY.

  While on my heart the worms consuming prey’d

  Of Love, and I with all his fire was caught;

  The steps of my fair wild one still I sought

  To trace o’er desert mountains as she stray’d;

  And much I dared in bitter strains to upbraid

  Both Love and her, whom I so cruel thought;

  But rude was then my genius, and untaught

  My rhymes, while weak and new the ideas play’d.

  Dead is that fire; and cold its ashes lie

  In one small tomb; which had it still grown on

  E’en to old age, as oft by others felt,

  Arm’d with the power of rhyme, which wretched I

  E’en now disclaim, my riper strains had won

  E’en stones to burst, and in soft sorrows melt.

  ANON., OX., 1795.

  SONNET XXXVII.

  Anima bella, da quel nodo sciolta.

  HE PRAYS LAURA TO LOOK DOWN UPON HIM FROM HEAVEN.

  Bright spirit, from those earthly bonds released,

  The loveliest ever wove in Nature’s loom,

  From thy bright skies compassionate the gloom

  Shrouding my life that once of joy could taste!

  Each false suggestion of thy heart has ceased,

  That whilom bade thee stem disdain assume;

  Now, all secure, heaven’s habitant become,

  List to my sighs, thy looks upon me cast.

  Mark the huge rock, whence Sorga’s waters rise;

  And see amidst its waves and borders stray

  One fed by grief and memory that ne’er dies

  But from that spot, oh! turn thy sight away

  Where I first loved, where thy late dwelling lies;

  That in thy friends thou nought ungrateful may’st survey!

  NOTT.

  Blest soul, that, loosen’d from those bands, art flown —

  Bands than which Nature never form’d more fair,

  Look down and mark how changed to carking care

  From gladdest thoughts I pass my days unknown.

  Each false opinion from my heart is gone,

  That once to me made thy sweet sight appear

  Most harsh and bitter; now secure from fear

  Here turn thine eyes, and listen to my moan.

  Turn to this rock whence Sorga’s waters rise,

  And mark, where through the mead its waters flow,

  One who of thee still mindful ceaseless sighs:

  But leave me there unsought for, where to glow

  Our flames began, and where thy mansion lies,

  Lest thou in thine shouldst see what grieved thee so.

  ANON., OX., 1795.

  SONNET XXXVIII.

  Quel sol che mi mostrava il cammin destro.

  LOVE AND HE SEEK LAURA, BUT FIND NO TRACES OF HER EXCEPT IN THE SKY.

  That sun, which ever signall’d the right road,

  Where flash’d her own bright feet, to heaven to fly,

  Returning to the Eternal Sun on high,

  Has quench’d my light, and cast her earthly load;

  Thus, lone and weary, my oft steps have trode,

  As some wild animal, the sere woods by,

  Fleeing with heavy heart and downcast eye

  The world which since to me a blank has show’d.

  Still with fond search each well-known spot I pace

  Where once I saw her: Love, who grieves me so,

  My only guide, directs me where to go.

  I find her not: her every sainted trace

  Seeks, in bright realms above, her parent star

  From grisly Styx and black Avernus far.

  MACGREGOR.

  SONNET XXXIX.

  Io pensava assai destro esser sull’ ale.

  UNWORTHY TO HAVE LOOKED UPON HER, HE IS STILL MORE SO TO ATTEMPT HER PRAISES.

  I thought me apt and firm of wing to rise

  (Not of myself, but him who trains us all)

  In song, to numbers fitting the fair thrall

  Which Love once fasten’d and which Death unties.

  Slow now and frail, the task too sorely tries,

  As a great weight upon a sucker small:

  “Who leaps,” I said, “too high may midway fall:

  Man ill accomplishes what Heaven denies.”

  So far the wing of genius ne’er could fly —

  Poor style like mine and faltering tongue much less —

  As Nature rose, in that rare fabric, high.

  Love follow’d Nature with such full success

  In gracing her, no claim could I advance

  Even to look, and yet was bless’d by chance.

  MACGREGOR.

  SONNET XL.

  Quella per cui con Sorga ho cangiat’ Arno.

  HE ATTEMPTS TO PAINT HER BEAUTIES, BUT NOT HER VIRTUES.

  She, for whose sake fair Arno I resign,

  And for free poverty court-affluence spurn,

  Has known to sour the precious sweets to turn

  On which I lived, for which I burn and pine.

  Though since, the vain attempt has oft been mine

  That future ages from my song should learn

  Her heavenly beauties, and like me should burn,

  My poor verse fails her sweet face to define.

  The gifts, though all her own, which others share,

  Which were but stars her bright sky scatter’d o’er,

  Haply of these to sing e’en I might dare;

  But when to the diviner part I
soar,

  To the dull world a brief and brilliant light,

  Courage and wit and art are baffled quite.

  MACGREGOR.

  SONNET XLI.

  L’ alto e novo miracol ch’ a dì nostri.

  IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO DESCRIBE HER EXCELLENCES.

  The wonder, high and new, that, in our days,

  Dawn’d on the world, yet would not there remain,

  Which heaven but show’d to us to snatch again

  Better to blazon its own starry ways;

  That to far times I her should paint and praise

  Love wills, who prompted first my passionate strain;

  But now wit, leisure, pen, page, ink in vain

  To the fond task a thousand times he sways.

  My slow rhymes struggle not to life the while;

  I feel it, and whoe’er to-day below,

  Or speak or write of love will prove it so.

  Who justly deems the truth beyond all style,

  Here silent let him muse, and sighing say,

  Blessèd the eyes who saw her living day!

  MACGREGOR.

  SONNET XLII.

  Zefiro torna, e ‘l bel tempo rimena.

  RETURNING SPRING BRINGS TO HIM ONLY INCREASE OF GRIEF.

  Zephyr returns; and in his jocund train

  Brings verdure, flowers, and days serenely clear;

  Brings Progne’s twitter, Philomel’s lorn strain,

  With every bloom that paints the vernal year;

  Cloudless the skies, and smiling every plain;

  With joyance flush’d, Jove views his daughter dear;

  Love’s genial power pervades earth, air, and main;

  All beings join’d in fond accord appear.

  But nought to me returns save sorrowing sighs,

  Forced from my inmost heart by her who bore

  Those keys which govern’d it unto the skies:

  The blossom’d meads, the choristers of air,

  Sweet courteous damsels can delight no more;

  Each face looks savage, and each prospect drear.

  NOTT.

  The spring returns, with all her smiling train;

  The wanton Zephyrs breathe along the bowers,

  The glistening dew-drops hang on bending flowers,

  And tender green light-shadows o’er the plain:

  And thou, sweet Philomel, renew’st thy strain,

  Breathing thy wild notes to the midnight grove:

  All nature feels the kindling fire of love,

  The vital force of spring’s returning reign.

  But not to me returns the cheerful spring!

  O heart! that know’st no period to thy grief,

  Nor Nature’s smiles to thee impart relief,

  Nor change of mind the varying seasons bring:

  She, she is gone! All that e’er pleased before,

  Adieu! ye birds ye flowers, ye fields, that charm no more!

  WOODHOUSELEE.

  Returning Zephyr the sweet season brings,

  With flowers and herbs his breathing train among,

  And Progne twitters, Philomela sings,

  Leading the many-colour’d spring along;

  Serene the sky, and fair the laughing field,

  Jove views his daughter with complacent brow;

  Earth, sea, and air, to Love’s sweet influence yield,

  And creatures all his magic power avow:

  But nought, alas! for me the season brings,

  Save heavier sighs, from my sad bosom drawn

  By her who can from heaven unlock its springs;

  And warbling birds and flower-bespangled lawn,

  And fairest acts of ladies fair and mild,

  A desert seem, and its brute tenants wild.

  DACRE.

  Zephyr returns and winter’s rage restrains,

  With herbs, with flowers, his blooming progeny!

  Now Progne prattles, Philomel complains,

  And spring assumes her robe of various dye;

  The meadows smile, heaven glows, nor Jove disdains

  To view his daughter with delighted eye;

  While Love through universal nature reigns,

  And life is fill’d with amorous sympathy!

  But grief, not joy, returns to me forlorn,

  And sighs, which from my inmost heart proceed

  For her, by whom to heaven its keys were borne.

  The song of birds, the flower-enamell’d mead,

  And graceful acts, which most the fair adorn,

  A desert seem, and beasts of savage prey!

  CHARLEMONT.

  SONNET XLIII.

  Quel rosignuol che sì soave piagne.

  THE SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALE REMINDS HIM OF HIS UNHAPPY LOT.

  Yon nightingale, whose bursts of thrilling tone,

  Pour’d in soft sorrow from her tuneful throat,

  Haply her mate or infant brood bemoan,

  Filling the fields and skies with pity’s note;

  Here lingering till the long long night is gone,

  Awakes the memory of my cruel lot —

  But I my wretched self must wail alone:

  Fool, who secure from death an angel thought!

  O easy duped, who thus on hope relies!

  Who would have deem’d the darkness, which appears,

  From orbs more brilliant than the sun should rise?

  Now know I, made by sad experience wise,

  That Fate would teach me by a life of tears,

  On wings how fleeting fast all earthly rapture flies!

  WRANGHAM.

  Yon nightingale, whose strain so sweetly flows,

  Mourning her ravish’d young or much-loved mate,

  A soothing charm o’er all the valleys throws

  And skies, with notes well tuned to her sad state:

  And all the night she seems my kindred woes

  With me to weep and on my sorrows wait;

  Sorrows that from my own fond fancy rose,

  Who deem’d a goddess could not yield to fate.

  How easy to deceive who sleeps secure!

  Who could have thought that to dull earth would turn

  Those eyes that as the sun shone bright and pure?

  Ah! now what Fortune wills I see full sure:

  That loathing life, yet living I should see

  How few its joys, how little they endure!

  ANON., OX., 1795.

  That nightingale, who now melodious mourns

  Perhaps his children or his consort dear,

  The heavens with sweetness fills; the distant bourns

  Resound his notes, so piteous and so clear;

  With me all night he weeps, and seems by turns

  To upbraid me with my fault and fortune drear,

  Whose fond and foolish heart, where grief sojourns,

  A goddess deem’d exempt from mortal fear.

  Security, how easy to betray!

  The radiance of those eyes who could have thought

  Should e’er become a senseless clod of clay?

  Living, and weeping, late I’ve learn’d to say

  That here below — Oh, knowledge dearly bought! —

  Whate’er delights will scarcely last a day!

  CHARLEMONT.

  SONNET XLIV.

  Nè per sereno cielo ir vaghe stelle.

  NOTHING THAT NATURE OFFERS CAN AFFORD HIM CONSOLATION.

  Not skies serene, with glittering stars inlaid,

  Nor gallant ships o’er tranquil ocean dancing,

  Nor gay careering knights in arms advancing,

  Nor wild herds bounding through the forest glade,

  Nor tidings new of happiness delay’d,

  Nor poesie, Love’s witchery enhancing,

  Nor lady’s song beside clear fountain glancing,

  In beauty’s pride, with chastity array’d;

  Nor aught of lovely, aught of gay in show,

  Shall touch my heart, now cold within her tom
b

  Who was erewhile my life and light below!

  So heavy — tedious — sad — my days unblest,

  That I, with strong desire, invoke Death’s gloom,

  Her to behold, whom ne’er to have seen were best!

  DACRE.

  Nor stars bright glittering through the cool still air,

  Nor proud ships riding on the tranquil main,

  Nor armed knights light pricking o’er the plain,

  Nor deer in glades disporting void of care,

  Nor tidings hoped by recent messenger,

  Nor tales of love in high and gorgeous strain,

  Nor by clear stream, green mead, or shady lane

  Sweet-chaunted roundelay of lady fair;

  Nor aught beside my heart shall e’er engage —

  Sepulchred, as ’tis henceforth doom’d to be,

  With her, my eyes’ sole mirror, beam, and bliss.

  Oh! how I long this weary pilgrimage

  To close; that I again that form may see,

  Which never to have seen had been my happiness!

  WRANGHAM.

  SONNET XLV.

  Passato è ‘l tempo omai, lasso! che tanto.

  HIS ONLY DESIRE IS AGAIN TO BE WITH HER.

  Fled — fled, alas! for ever — is the day,

  Which to my flame some soothing whilom brought;

  And fled is she of whom I wept and wrote:

  Yet still the pang, the tear, prolong their stay!

  And fled that angel vision far away;

  But flying, with soft glance my heart it smote

  (’Twas then my own) which straight, divided, sought

  Her, who had wrapp’d it in her robe of clay.

  Part shares her tomb, part to her heaven is sped;

  Where now, with laurel wreathed, in triumph’s car

  She reaps the meed of matchless holiness:

  So might I, of this flesh discumberèd,

  Which holds me prisoner here, from sorrow far

  With her expatiate free ‘midst realms of endless bliss!

  WRANGHAM.

  Ah! gone for ever are the happy years

  That soothed my soul amid Love’s fiercest fire,

  And she for whom I wept and tuned my lyre

  Has gone, alas! — But left my lyre, my tears:

  Gone is that face, whose holy look endears;

  But in my heart, ere yet it did retire,