Sonnet XCVI
SONNET XCVI.
Quelle pietose rime, in ch' io m' accorsi.
TO ANTONIO OF FERRARA, WHO, IN A POEM, HAD LAMENTED PETRARCH'S SUPPOSED DEATH.
Those pious lines wherein are finely metProofs of high genius and a spirit kind,Had so much influence on my grateful mindThat instantly in hand my pen I setTo tell you that death's final blow—which yetShall me and every mortal surely find—I have not felt, though I, too, nearly join'dThe confines of his realm without regret;But I turn'd back again because I read[Pg 112]Writ o'er the threshold that the time to meOf life predestinate not all was fled,Though its last day and hour I could not see.Then once more let your sad heart comfort know,And love the living worth which dead it honour'd so.