Sonnets from Petrarch's Canzoniere
Sonetto XC
Erano i capei d'oro a l'aura sparsi,
Che 'n mille dolci nodi gli avolgea;
E 'l vago lume oltra misura ardea
Di quei begli occhi, ch'or ne son sí scarsi;
E 'l vago di pietosi color farsi,
Non so se vero o falso, mi parea:
I' che l'esca amorosa al petto avea,
Qual meraviglia se di subito arsi?
Non era l'andar suo cosa mortale,
Ma d'angelica forma; e le parole
Sonavan altro che pur voce umana.
Uno spirto celeste, un vivi sole
Fu quel ch'i' vidi; e se non fossse or tale,
Piaga per allentar d'arco non sana.
She used to let her golden hair fly free
for the wind to toy and tangle and molest.
Her eyes were brighter than the radiant west.
(Seldom they shine so now.) I used to see4 pity look out of those deep eyes on me.
("It was false pity," you would now protest.)
I had love's tinder heaped within my breast;
What wonder that the flame burned furiously?
8 She did not walk in any mortal way,
but with angelic progress. When she spoke,
unearthly voices sang in unison.
She seemed divine among the dreary folk12 of earth. you say she is not so today?
Well, though the bow's unbent, the wound bleeds on.
(Translated into poetry by Maurice Bishop, Petrarch and His World, 56)
Questions:
- The speaker of this poem recalls the Laura he knew after many years have passed. How does he describe her (at least three details required)?
- Has the speaker's feelings for Laura gone away with time? (Cite textual evidence)
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