Petrarch is a famous Italian poet who lived from 1304 to 1374. He loved to travel and study human nature. When he was young he was a priest, but he gave it up on falling in love with a beautiful woman, Laura, who had to love from afar. Unfortunately for him, she was already married. He went on to fall in love with others, and died when almost seventy.
She ruled in beauty o'er this heart of mine,
A noble lady in a humble home,
And now her time for heavenly bliss has come,
'Tis I am mortal proved, and she divine.
The soul that all its blessings must resign,
And love whose light no more on earth finds room,
Might rend the rocks with pity for their doom,
Yet none their sorrows can in words enshrine;
They weep within my heart; and ears are deaf
Save mine alone, and I am crushed with care,
And naught remains to me save mournful breath.
Assuredly but dust and shade we are,
Assuredly desire is blind and brief,
Assuredly its hope but ends in death.
The poem looks at how fleeting life is, how all we love will eventually be lost.
This translation was done by Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823 - 1911).
July - A Poem A Day
A Poem A Day - main page
