Sonnet CXC

Sonnet CXC by Francesco Petrarch

SONNET CXC

Passer mai solitario in alcun tetto.

FAR FROM HIS BELOVED, LIFE IS MISERABLE BY NIGHT AS BY DAY.

Never was bird, spoil'd of its young, more sad,Or wild beast in his lair more lone than me,[Pg 202]Now that no more that lovely face I see,The only sun my fond eyes ever had.In ceaseless sorrow is my chief delight:My food to poison turns, to grief my joy;The night is torture, dark the clearest sky,And my lone pillow a hard field of fight.Sleep is indeed, as has been well express'd.Akin to death, for it the heart removesFrom the dear thought in which alone I live.Land above all with plenty, beauty bless'd!Ye flowery plains, green banks and shady groves!Ye hold the treasure for whose loss I grieve!
Macgregor.

Form: Italian Sonnet Comments

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