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diff --git a/old/50307-8.txt b/old/50307-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 608be0a..0000000 --- a/old/50307-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1242 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Fifteen sonnets of Petrarch, by Francesco Petrarca - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Fifteen sonnets of Petrarch - -Author: Francesco Petrarca - -Translator: Thomas Wentworth Higginson - -Release Date: October 25, 2015 [EBook #50307] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIFTEEN SONNETS OF PETRARCH *** - - - - -Produced by Carlo Traverso, Linda Cantoni, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net, in -celebration of Distributed Proofreaders' 15th Anniversary, -using images generously made available by The Internet -Archive. - - - - - - - - - -[Transcriber's Note: Printer errors in the Italian sonnets are noted -in the Transcriber's Note at the end of this file, along with a list -of the corresponding sonnet numbers in _Il Canzoniere_.] - - - - -FIFTEEN SONNETS OF PETRARCH - -[Illustration] - - SELECTED AND TRANSLATED BY - THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON - PUBLISHED BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN - & COMPANY BOSTON AND NEW YORK - MDCCCCIII - - COPYRIGHT 1900 AND 1903 - BY THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - - - -NOTE - - -This introduction is based essentially upon a paper 'Sunshine and -Petrarch' which originally included most of the sonnets in this -volume. It was written at Newport, R.I., where the translator was -then residing. - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -Near my summer home there is a little cove or landing by the bay, -where nothing larger than a boat can ever anchor. I sit above it -now, upon the steep bank, knee-deep in buttercups, and amid grass so -lush and green that it seems to ripple and flow instead of waving. -Below lies a tiny beach, strewn with a few bits of driftwood and some -purple shells, and so sheltered by projecting walls that its wavelets -plash but lightly. A little farther out the sea breaks more roughly -over submerged rocks, and the waves lift themselves, before breaking, -in an indescribable way, as if each gave a glimpse through a -translucent window, beyond which all ocean's depths might be clearly -seen, could one but hit the proper angle of vision. On the right side -of my retreat a high wall limits the view, while close upon the left -the crumbling parapet of Fort Greene stands out into the foreground, -its verdant scarp so relieved against the blue water that each inward -bound schooner seems to sail into a cave of grass. In the middle -distance is a white lighthouse, and beyond lie the round tower of -old Fort Louis, and the soft low walls of Conanicut. - -Behind me an oriole chirrups in triumph amid the birch-trees which -wave around the house of the haunted window; before me a kingfisher -pauses and waits, and a darting blackbird shows the scarlet on his -wings. Sloops and schooners constantly come and go, careening in the -wind, their white sails taking, if remote enough, a vague blue mantle -from the delicate air. Sailboats glide in the distance,--each a mere -white wing of canvas,--or coming nearer, and glancing suddenly into -the cove, are put as suddenly on the other tack, and almost in an -instant seem far away. There is to-day such a live sparkle on the -water, such a luminous freshness on the grass, that it seems, as is -often the case in early June, as if all history were a dream, and the -whole earth were but the creation of a summer's day. - -If Petrarch still knows and feels the consummate beauty of these -earthly things, it may seem to him some repayment for the sorrows of -a lifetime that one reader, after all this lapse of years, should -choose his sonnets to match this grass, these blossoms, and the -soft lapse of these blue waves. Yet any longer or more continuous -poem would be out of place to-day. I fancy that this narrow cove -prescribes the proper limits of a sonnet; and when I count the lines -of ripple within yonder projecting wall, there proves to be room for -just fourteen. Nature meets our whims with such little fitnesses. -The words which build these delicate structures of Petrarch's are as -soft and fine and close-textured as the sands upon this tiny beach, -and their monotone, if such it be, is the monotone of the neighboring -ocean. Is it not possible, by bringing such a book into the open air, -to separate it from the grimness of commentators, and bring it back -to life and light and Italy? The beautiful earth is the same as when -this poetry and passion were new; there is the same sunlight, the -same blue water and green grass; yonder pleasure-boat might bear, for -aught we know, the friends and lovers of five centuries ago; Petrarch -and Laura might be there, with Boccaccio and Fiammetta as comrades, -and with Chaucer as their stranger guest. It bears, at any rate, if I -know its voyagers, eyes as lustrous, voices as sweet. With the world -thus young, beauty eternal, fancy free, why should these delicious -Italian pages exist but to be tortured into grammatical examples? -Is there no reward to be imagined for a delightful book that can -match Browning's fantastic burial of a tedious one? When it has -sufficiently basked in sunshine, and been cooled in pure salt air, -when it has bathed in heaped clover, and been scented, page by page, -with melilot, cannot its beauty once more blossom, and its buried -loves revive? - -Emboldened by such influences, at least let me translate a sonnet -(Lieti fiori e felici), and see if anything is left after the sweet -Italian syllables are gone. Before this continent was discovered, -before English literature existed, when Chaucer was a child these -words were written. Yet they are to-day as fresh and perfect as these -laburnum blossoms that droop above my head. And as the variable and -uncertain air comes freighted with clover-scent from yonder field, so -floats through these long centuries a breath of fragrance, the memory -of Laura. - -Goethe compared translators to carriers, who convey good wine to -market, though it gets unaccountably watered by the way. The more -one praises a poem, the more absurd becomes one's position, perhaps, -in trying to translate it. If it is so admirable,--is the natural -inquiry,--why not let it alone? It is a doubtful blessing to -the human race, that the instinct of translation still prevails, -stronger than reason; and after one has once yielded to it, then -each untranslated favorite is like the trees round a backwoodsman's -clearing, each of which stands, a silent defiance, until he has cut -it down. Let us try the axe again. This is to Laura singing (Quando -Amor). - -As I look across the bay, there is seen resting over all the hills, -and even upon every distant sail, an enchanted veil of palest blue, -that seems woven out of the very souls of happy days,--a bridal veil, -with which the sunshine weds this soft landscape in summer. Such -and so indescribable is the atmospheric film that hangs over these -poems of Petrarch's; there is a delicate haze about the words, that -vanishes when you touch them, and reappears as you recede. How it -clings, for instance, round this sonnet (Aura che quelle chiome)! - -Consider also the pure and reverential tenderness of one like this -(Qual donna attende). A companion sonnet, on the other hand (O -passi sparsi), seems rather to be of the Shakespearean type; the -successive phrases set sail, one by one, like a yacht squadron; each -spreads its graceful wings and glides away. It is hard to handle -this white canvas without soiling. Macgregor, in the only version of -this sonnet which I have seen, abandons all attempt at rhyme; but to -follow the strict order of the original in this respect is a part -of the pleasant problem which one cannot bear to forgo. And there -seems a kind of deity who presides over this union of languages, and -who sometimes silently lays the words in order, after all one's poor -attempts have failed. - -Yonder flies a kingfisher, and pauses, fluttering like a butterfly -in the air, then dives toward a fish, and, failing, perches on the -projecting wall. Doves from neighboring dove-cots alight on the -parapet of the fort, fearless of the quiet cattle who find there a -breezy pasture. These doves, in taking flight, do not rise from the -ground at once, but, edging themselves closer to the brink, with a -caution almost ludicrous in such airy things, thrust themselves upon -the breeze with a shy little hop, and at the next moment are securely -on the wing. - -How the abundant sunlight inundates everything! The great clumps of -grass and clover are imbedded in it to the roots; it flows in among -their stalks, like water; the lilac-bushes bask in it eagerly; the -topmost leaves of the birches are burnished. A vessel sails by with -plash and roar, and all the white spray along her side is sparkling -with sunlight. Yet there is sorrow in the world, and it reached -Petrarch even before Laura died,--when it reached her. One exquisite -sonnet (I' vidi in terra) shows this to have been true. - -These sonnets are in Petrarch's earlier manner; but the death of -Laura brought a change. Look at yonder schooner coming down the bay -straight toward us; she is hauled close to the wind, her jib is -white in the sunlight, her larger sails are touched with the same -snowy lustre, and all the swelling canvas is rounded into such lines -of beauty as scarcely anything else in the world--hardly even the -perfect outlines of the human form--can give. Now she comes up into -the wind, and goes about with a strong flapping of her sails, smiting -on the ear at a half-mile's distance; then she glides off on the -other tack, showing the shadowed side of her sails, until she reaches -the distant zone of haze. So change the sonnets after Laura's death, -growing shadowy as they recede, until the very last (Gli occhi di -ch'io parlai) seems to merge itself in the blue distance. - -"And yet I live!" (Ed io pur vivo) What a pause is implied before -these words with which the closing sestet of this sonnet begins! the -drawing of a long breathy immeasurably long; like that vast interval -of heart-beats which precedes Shakespeare's 'Since Cleopatra died.' -I can think of no other passage in literature that has in it the -same wide spaces of emotion. Another sonnet (Soleasi nel mio cor) -which is still more retrospective, seems to me the most stately and -concentrated in the whole volume. It is the sublimity of a despair -not to be relieved by utterance. In a later strain (Levommi il mio -pensier) he rises to that dream which is more than earth's realities. - -It vindicates the emphatic reality and personality of Petrarch's -love, after all, that when from these heights of vision he surveys -and resurveys his life's long dream, it becomes to him more and -more definite, as well as more poetic, and is farther and farther -from a merely vague sentimentalism. In his later sonnets, Laura -grows more distinctly individual to us; her traits show themselves -as more characteristic, her temperament more intelligible, her -precise influence upon Petrarch clearer. What delicate accuracy of -delineation is seen, for instance, in the sonnet (Dolci durezze)! In -the sonnet (Gli angeli eletti) visions multiply upon visions. Would -that one could transfer into English the delicious way in which the -sweet Italian rhymes recur and surround and seem to embrace each -other, and are woven and unwoven and interwoven, like the heavenly -hosts that gathered around Laura. - -Petrarch's odes and sonnets are but parts of one symphony, leading -us through a passion strengthened by years and only purified by -death, until at last the graceful lay becomes an anthem and a 'Nunc -dimittis.' In the closing sonnets Petrarch withdraws from the world, -and they seem like voices from a cloister, growing more and more -solemn till the door is closed. This is one of the last (Dicemi -spesso). How true is its concluding line! Who can wonder that women -prize beauty, and are intoxicated by their own fascinations, when -these fragile gifts are yet strong enough to outlast all the memories -of statesmanship and war? Next to the immortality of genius is that -which genius may confer upon the object of its love. Laura, while -she lived, was simply one of a hundred or a thousand beautiful and -gracious Italian women; she had her loves and aversions, joys and -griefs; she cared dutifully for her household, and embroidered the -veil which Petrarch loved; her memory appeared as fleeting and -unsubstantial as that of woven tissue. After five centuries we find -that no armor of that iron age was so enduring. The kings whom she -honored, the popes whom she revered are dust, and their memory is -dust, but literature is still fragrant with her name. An impression -which has endured so long is ineffaceable; it is an earthly -immortality. - -"Time is the chariot of all ages to carry men away, and beauty cannot -bribe this charioteer." Thus wrote Petrarch in his Latin essays; but -his love had wealth that proved resistless, and for Laura the chariot -stayed. - - - - -SONNETS - - - I - - Lieti fiori e felici, e ben nate erbe, - Che Madonna, pensando, premer sole; - Piaggia ch'ascolti sue dolci parole, - E del bel piede alcun vestigio serbe; - Schietti arboscelli, e verdi frondi acerbe; - Amorosette e pallide viole; - Ombrose selve, ove percote il Sole, - Che vi fa co' suoi raggi alte e superbe; - O soave contrada, o puro fiume, - Che bagni 'l suo bel viso e gli occhi chiari, - E prendi qualità dal vivo lume; - Quanto v'invidio gli atti onesti e cari! - Non fia in voi scoglio omai che per costume - D'arder con la mia fiamma non impari. - - - I - - O joyous, blossoming, ever-blessed flowers! - 'Mid which my pensive queen her footstep sets; - O plain, that hold'st her words for amulets - And keep'st her footsteps in thy leafy bowers! - O trees, with earliest green of springtime hours, - And all spring's pale and tender violets! - O grove, so dark the proud sun only lets - His blithe rays gild the outskirts of thy towers! - O pleasant country-side! O limpid stream, - That mirrorest her sweet face, her eyes so clear, - And of their living light canst catch the beam! - I envy thee her presence pure and dear. - There is no rock so senseless but I deem - It burns with passion that to mine is near. - - - II - - Quando Amor i begli occhi a terra inchina - E i vaghi spirti in un sospiro accoglie - Con le sue mani, e poi in voce gli scioglie - Chiara, soave, angelica, divina; - Sento far del mio cor dolce rapina, - E sì dentro cangiar pensieri e voglie, - Ch'i' dico: or fien di me l'ultime spoglie, - Se 'l Ciel sì onesta morte mi destina. - Ma 'l suon, che di dolcezza i sensi lega, - Col gran desir d'udendo esser beata, - L'anima, al dipartir presta, raffrena. - Così mi vivo, e così avvolge e spiega - Lo stame della vita che m'è data, - Questa sola fra noi del ciel sirena. - - - II - - When Love doth those sweet eyes to earth incline, - And weaves those wandering notes into a sigh - With his own touch, and leads a minstrelsy - Clear-voiced and pure, angelic and divine,-- - He makes sweet havoc in this heart of mine, - And to my thoughts brings transformation high, - So that I say, "My time has come to die, - If fate so blest a death for me design." - But to my soul, thus steeped in joy, the sound - Brings such a wish to keep that present heaven, - It holds my spirit back to earth as well. - And thus I live: and thus is loosed and wound - The thread of life which unto me was given - By this sole Siren who with us doth dwell. - - - III - - Aura che quelle chiome bionde e crespe - Circondi e movi, e se' mossa da loro - Soavemente, e spargi quel dolce oro, - E poi 'l raccogli e 'n bei nodi 'l rincrespe; - Tu stai negli occhi ond'amorose vespe - Mi pungon sì, che 'nfin qua il sento e ploro; - E vacillando cerco il mio tesoro, - Com'animal che spesso adombre e 'ncespe: - Ch'or mel par ritrovar, ed or m'accorgo - Ch'i' ne son lunge; or mi sollevo, or caggio: - Ch'or quel ch'i' bramo, or quel ch'è vero, scorgo. - Aer felice, col bel vivo raggio - Rimanti. E tu, corrente e chiaro gorgo, - Ché non poss'io cangiar teco viaggio? - - - III - - Sweet air, that circlest round those radiant tresses, - And floatest, mingled with them, fold on fold, - Deliciously, and scatterest that fine gold, - Then twinest it again, my heart's dear jesses; - Thou lingerest on those eyes, whose beauty presses - Stings in my heart that all its life exhaust, - Till I go wandering round my treasure lost, - Like some scared creature whom the night distresses. - I seem to find her now, and now perceive - How far away she is; now rise, now fall; - Now what I wish, now what is true, believe. - O happy air! since joys enrich thee all, - Rest thee; and thou, O stream too bright to grieve! - Why can I not float with thee at thy call? - - - IV - - Qual donna attende a gloriosa fama - Di senno, di valor, di cortesia, - Miri fiso negli occhi a quella mia - Nemica, che mia donna il mondo chiama. - Come s'acquista onor, come Dio s'ama, - Com'è giunta onestà con leggiadria, - Ivi s'impara, e qual è dritta via - Di gir al Ciel, che lei aspetta e brama. - Ivi 'l parlar che nullo stile agguaglia, - E 'l bel tacere, e quei santi costumi - Ch'ingegno uman non può spiegar in carte. - L'infinita bellezza, ch'altrui abbaglia, - Non vi s'impara; ché quei dolci lumi - S'acquistan per ventura e non per arte. - - - IV - - Doth any maiden seek the glorious fame - Of chastity, of strength, of courtesy? - Gaze in the eyes of that sweet enemy - Whom all the world doth as my lady name! - How honor grows, and pure devotion's flame, - How truth is joined with graceful dignity, - There thou mayst learn, and what the path may be - To that high heaven which doth her spirit claim; - There learn that speech, beyond all poet's skill, - And sacred silence, and those holy ways - Unutterable, untold by human heart. - But the infinite beauty that all eyes doth fill, - This none can learn! because its lovely rays - Are given by God's pure grace, and not by art. - - - V - - O passi sparsi, o pensier vaghi e pronti, - O tenace memoria, o fero ardore, - O possente desire, o debil core, - O occhi miei, occhi non già, ma fonti; - O fronde, onor delle famose fronti, - O sola insegna al gemino valore; - O faticosa vita, o dolce errore, - Che mi fate ir cercando piagge e monti; - O bel viso, ov'Amor insieme pose - Gli sproni e 'l fren, ond'e' mi punge e volve - Com'a lui piace, e calcitrar non vale; - O anime gentili ed amorose, - S'alcuna ha 'l mondo; e voi nude ombre e polve; - Deh restate a veder qual è 'l mio male. - - - V - - O wandering steps! O vague and busy dreams! - O changeless memory! O fierce desire! - O passion strong! heart weak with its own fire; - O eyes of mine! not eyes, but living streams; - O laurel boughs! whose lovely garland seems - The sole reward that glory's deeds require! - O haunted life! delusion sweet and dire, - That all my days from slothful rest redeems; - O beauteous face! where Love has treasured well - His whip and spur, the sluggish heart to move - At his least will; nor can it find relief. - O souls of love and passion! if ye dwell - Yet on this earth, and ye, great Shades of Love! - Linger, and see my passion and my grief. - - - VI - - I' vidi in terra angelici costumi - E celesti bellezze al mondo sole; - Tal che di rimembrar mi giova e dole; - Ché quant'io miro par sogni, ombre e fumi. - E vidi lagrimar que' duo bei lumi, - C'han fatto mille volle invidia al Sole; - Ed udii sospirando dir parole - Che farian gir i monti e stare i fiumi. - Amor, senno, valor, pietate e doglia - Facean piangendo un più dolce concento - D'ogni altro che nel mondo udir si soglia: - Ed era 'l cielo all'armonia sì 'ntento, - Che non si vedea 'n ramo mover foglia; - Tanta dolcezza avea pien l'aere e 'l vento. - - - VI - - I once beheld on earth celestial graces - And heavenly beauties scarce to mortals known, - Whose memory yields nor joy nor grief alone, - But all things else in cloud and dreams effaces. - I saw how tears had left their weary traces - Within those eyes that once the sun outshone, - I heard those lips, in low and plaintive moan, - Breathe words to stir the mountains from their places. - Love, wisdom, courage, tenderness, and truth - Made in their mourning strains more high and dear - Than ever wove soft sounds for mortal ear; - And heaven seemed listening in such saddest ruth - The very leaves upon the bough to soothe, - Such sweetness filled the blissful atmosphere. - - - VII - - Gli occhi di ch'io parlai sì caldamente, - E le braccia e le mani e i piedi e 'l viso - Che m'avean sì da me stesso diviso - E fatto singular dall'altra gente; - Le crespe chiome d'or puro lucente, - E 'l lampeggiar dell'angelico riso - Che solean far in terra un paradiso, - Poca polvere son, che nulla sente. - Ed io pur vivo; onde mi doglio e sdegno, - Rimaso senza 'l lume ch'amai tanto, - In gran fortuna e 'n disarmato legno. - Or sia qui fine al mio amoroso canto: - Secca è la vena dell'usato ingegno, - E la cetera mia rivolta in pianto. - - - VII - - Those eyes, 'neath which my passionate rapture rose, - The arms, hands, feet, the beauty that erewhile - Could my own soul from its own self beguile, - And in a separate world of dreams enclose, - The hair's bright tresses, full of golden glows, - And the soft lightning of the angelic smile - That changed this earth to some celestial isle,-- - Are now but dust, poor dust, that nothing knows. - And yet I live! Myself I grieve and scorn, - Left dark without the light I loved in vain, - Adrift in tempest on a bark forlorn; - Dead is the source of all my amorous strain, - Dry is the channel of my thoughts outworn, - And my sad harp can sound but notes of pain. - - - VIII - - Soleasi nel mio cor star bella e viva, - Com'alta donna in loco umile e basso: - Or son fatt'io per l'ultimo suo passo, - Non pur mortal ma morto; ed ella è diva. - L'alma d'ogni suo ben spogliata e priva, - Amor della sua luce ignudo e casso - Devrian della pietà romper un sasso: - Ma non è chi lor duol riconti o scriva; - Ché piangon dentro, ov'ogni orecchia è sorda, - Se non la mia, cui tanta doglia ingombra, - Ch'altro che sospirar, nulla m'avanza. - Veramente siam noi polvere ed ombra; - Veramente la voglia è cieca e 'ngorda; - Veramente fallace è la speranza. - - - VIII - - 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; no ears they find - 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 mad and blind; - Assuredly its hope but ends in death. - - - IX - - Levommi il mio pensier in parte ov'era - Quella ch'io cerco e non ritrovo in terra: - Ivi, fra lor che 'l terzo cerchio serra, - La rividi più bella e meno altera. - Per man mi prese e disse: in questa spera - Sarai ancor meco, se 'l desir non erra; - I' son colei che ti die' tanta guerra, - E compie' mia giornata innanzi sera. - Mio ben non cape in intelletto umano: - Te solo aspetto, e, quel che tanto amasti, - E laggiuso è rimaso, il mio bel velo. - Deh perchè tacque ed allargò la mano? - Ch'al suon de' detti sì pietosi e casti - Poco mancò ch'io non rimasi in cielo. - - - IX - - Dreams bore my fancy to that region where - She dwells whom here I seek, but cannot see. - 'Mid those who in the loftiest heaven be - I looked on her, less haughty and more fair. - She took my hand, she said, "Within this sphere, - If hope deceive not, thou shalt dwell with me: - I filled thy life with war's wild agony; - Mine own day closed ere evening could appear. - My bliss no human thought can understand; - I wait for thee alone, and that fair veil - Of beauty thou dost love shall yet retain." - Why was she silent then, why dropped my hand - Ere those delicious tones could quite avail - To bid my mortal soul in heaven remain? - - - X - - Dolci durezze e placide repulse, - Piene di casto amore e di pietate; - Leggiadri sdegni, che le mie infiammate - Voglie tempraro (or me n'accorgo) e 'nsulse; - Gentil parlar, in cui chiaro refulse - Con somma cortesia somma onestate; - Fior di virtù, fontana di beltate, - Ch'ogni basso pensier del cor m'avulse; - Divino sguardo, da far l'uom felice, - Or fiero in affrenar la mente ardita - A quel che giustamente si disdice, - Or presto a confortar mia frale vita; - Questo bel variar fu la radice - Di mia salute, che altramente era ita. - - - X - - Gentle severity, repulses mild, - Full of chaste love and pity sorrowing; - Graceful rebukes, that had the power to bring - Back to itself a heart by dreams beguiled; - A tender voice, whose accents undefiled - Held sweet restraints, all duty honoring; - The bloom of virtue; purity's clear spring - To cleanse away base thoughts and passions wild; - Divinest eyes to make a lover's bliss, - Whether to bridle in the wayward mind - Lest its wild wanderings should the pathway miss, - Or else its griefs to soothe, its wounds to bind; - This sweet completeness of thy life it is - Which saved my soul; no other peace I find. - - - XI - - Gli angeli eletti e l'anime beate - Cittadine del cielo, il primo giorno - Che Madonna passò, le fur intorno - Piene di maraviglia e di pietate. - Che luce è questa, e qual nova beltate? - Dicean tra lor; perch'abito sì adorno - Dal mondo errante a quest'alto soggiorno - Non salì mai in tutta questa etate. - Ella contenta aver cangiato albergo, - Si paragona pur coi più perfetti; - E parte ad or ad or si volge a tergo - Mirando s'io la seguo, e par ch'aspetti: - Ond'io voglie e pensier tutti al ciel ergo; - Perch'io l'odo pregar pur ch'i' m'affretti. - - - XI - - The holy angels and the spirits blest, - Celestial bands, upon that day serene - When first my love went by in heavenly sheen, - Came thronging, wondering at the gracious guest. - "What light is here, in what new beauty drest?" - They said among themselves; "for none has seen - Within this age arrive so fair a mien - From changing earth unto immortal rest." - And she, contented with her new-found bliss, - Ranks with the perfect in that upper sphere, - Yet ever and anon looks back on this, - To watch for me, as if for me she stayed. - So strive my thoughts, lest that high heaven I miss. - I hear her call, and must not be delayed. - - - XII - - Dicemi spesso il mio fidato speglio, - L'animo stanco e la cangiata scorza - E la scemata mia destrezza e forza; - Non ti nasconder più; tu se' pur veglio. - Obbedir a Natura in tutto è il meglio; - Ch'a contender con lei il tempo ne sforza. - Subito allor, com'acqua il foco ammorza, - D'un lungo e grave sonno mi risveglio: - E veggio ben che 'l nostro viver vola, - E ch'esser non si può più d'una volta; - E 'n mezzo 'l cor mi sona una parola - Di lei ch'è or dal suo bel nodo sciolta, - Ma ne' suoi giorni al mondo fu sì sola, - Ch'a tutte, s'i' non erro, fama ha tolta. - - - XII - - Oft by my faithful mirror I am told, - And by my mind outworn and altered brow, - My earthly powers impaired and weakened now,-- - "Deceive thyself no more, for thou art old!" - Who strives with Nature's laws is over-bold, - And Time to his commandment bids us bow. - Like fire that waves have quenched, I calmly vow - In life's long dream no more my sense to fold. - And while I think, our swift existence flies, - And none can live again earth's brief career,-- - Then in my deepest heart the voice replies - Of one who now has left this mortal sphere, - But walked alone through earthly destinies, - And of all women is to fame most dear. - - - XIII - - Vago augelletto che cantando vai, - Ovver piangendo il tuo tempo passato, - Vedendoti la notte e 'l verno a lato, - E 'l dì dopo le spalle e i mesi gai; - Se come i tuoi gravosi affanni sai, - Così sapessi il mio simile stato, - Verresti in grembo a questo sconsolato - A partir seco i dolorosi guai. - I' non so se le parti sarian pari; - Che quella cui tu piangi è forse in vita, - Di ch'a me Morte e 'l Ciel son tanto avari: - Ma la stagione e l'ora men gradita, - Col membrar de' dolci anni e degli amari, - A parlar teco con pietà m'invita. - - - XIII - - Sweet wandering bird that singest on thy way, - Or mournest yet the time for ever past, - Watching night come and spring receding fast, - Day's bliss behind thee and the seasons gay,-- - If thou my griefs against thine own couldst weigh, - Thou couldst not guess how long my sorrows last; - Yet thou mightst hide thee from the wintry blast - Within my breast, and thus my pains allay. - Yet may not all thy woes be named with mine, - Since she whom thou dost mourn may live, yet live, - But death and heaven still hold my spirit's bride; - And all those long past days of sad decline - With all the joys remembered years can give - Still bid me ask "Sweet bird! with me abide!" - - - XIV - - La gola e 'l sonno e l'oziose piume - Hanno del mondo ogni vertù sbandita, - Ond'è dal corso suo quasi smarrita - Nostra natura, vinta dal costume; - Ed è sì spento ogni benigno lume - Del ciel, per cui s'informa umana vita, - Che per cosa mirabile s'addita - Chi vuol far d'Elicona nascer fiume. - Qual vaghezza di lauro? qual di mirto? - Povera e nuda vai, filosofia, - Dice la turba al vil guadagno intesa. - Pochi compagni avrai per l'altra via: - Tanto ti prego più, gentile spirto, - Non lassar la magnanima tua impresa. - - - XIV - - Lust and dull slumber and the lazy hours - Have well nigh banished virtue from mankind. - Hence have man's nature and his treacherous mind - Left their free course, enmeshed in sin's soft bowers. - The very light of heaven hath lost its powers - Mid fading ways our loftiest dreams to find; - Men jeer at him whose footsteps are inclined - Where Helicon from dewy fountains showers. - Who seeks the laurel? who the myrtle twines? - "Wisdom, thou goest a beggar and unclad," - So scoffs the crowd, intent on worthless gain. - Few are the hearts that prize the poet's lines: - Yet, friend, the more I hail thy spirit glad! - Let not the glory of thy purpose wane! - - - XV - - Voi ch'ascoltate in rime sparse il suono - Di quei sospiri ond'io nudriva il core - In sul mio primo giovenile errore, - Quand' era in parte altr'uom da quel ch'i' sono; - Del vario stile, in ch'io piango e ragiono - Fra le vane speranze e 'l van dolore, - Ove sia chi per prova intenda amore, - Spero trovar pietà, non che perdono. - Ma ben veggi' or, sì come al popol tutto - Favola fui gran tempo: onde sovente - Di me medesmo meco mi vergogno: - E del mio vaneggiar vergogna è 'l frutto, - E 'l pentirsi, e 'l conoscer chiaramente - Che quanto piace al mondo è breve sogno. - - - XV - - O ye who trace through scattered verse the sound - Of those long sighs wherewith I fed my heart - Amid youth's errors, when in greater part - That man unlike this present man was found; - For the mixed strain which here I do compound - Of empty hopes and pains that vainly start, - Whatever soul hath truly felt love's smart, - With pity and with pardon will abound. - But now I see full well how long I earned - All men's reproof; and oftentimes my soul - Lies crushed by its own grief; and it doth seem - For such misdeed shame is the fruitage whole, - And wild repentance and the knowledge learned - That worldly joy is still a short, short dream. - - - FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY COPIES - PRINTED AT THE RIVERSIDE PRESS - CAMBRIDGE, IN THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER, - MDCCCCIII. NUMBER 426 - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Transcriber's Note: Below is a list of printer errors that have been -corrected in the Italian sonnets, by reference to the 1964 critical -edition of _Il Canzoniere_ edited by Gianfranco Contini, available at -Liber Liber, www.liberliber.it. The translator of this book probably -used as his source an edition in which spelling and punctuation were -somewhat modernized; these modernizations have not been altered in -this e-book. Spacing of elisions (such as "ch'ascolti") has been -normalized. The original book was printed almost entirely in italics, -which are not marked as such in this e-text. Printer errors in the -English portions of this book have been corrected without note. - - Sonnet Line Error Correction - II 10 a'udendo d'udendo - III 14 Che Ché - IV 13 che ché - VI 4 Che Ché - VI 12 si sì - VII 9 doglia doglio - VIII 9 Che Ché - -The sonnets in this book correspond to the following numbers in _Il -Canzoniere_: - - This book _Il Canzoniere_ - 1. 162 Lieti fiori - 2. 167 Quando Amor - 3. 227 Aura che quelle chiome - 4. 261 Qual donna attende - 5. 161 O passi sparsi - 6. 156 I' vidi in terra - 7. 292 Gli occhi di ch'io parlai - 8. 294 Soleasi nel mio cor - 9. 302 Levommi il mio pensier - 10. 351 Dolci durezze - 11. 346 Gli angeli eletti - 12. 361 Dicemi spesso - 13. 353 Vago augelletto - 14. 7 La gola e 'l sonno - 15. 1 Voi ch'ascoltate] - - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Fifteen sonnets of Petrarch, by Francesco Petrarca - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIFTEEN SONNETS OF PETRARCH *** - -***** This file should be named 50307-8.txt or 50307-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/3/0/50307/ - -Produced by Carlo Traverso, Linda Cantoni, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net, in -celebration of Distributed Proofreaders' 15th Anniversary, -using images generously made available by The Internet -Archive. - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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