The Poetry Corner

Sonnet CCXII.

By Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)

Solea lontana in sonno consolarme. SHE ANNOUNCES TO HIM, IN A VISION, THAT HE WILL NEVER SEE HER MORE. To soothe me distant far, in days gone by, With dreams of one whose glance all heaven combined, Was mine; now fears and sorrow haunt my mind, Nor can I from that grief, those terrors fly: For oft in sleep I mark within her eye Deep pity with o'erwhelming sadness join'd; And oft I seem to hear on every wind Accents, which from my breast chase peace and joy. "That last dark eve," she cries, "remember'st thou, When to those doting eyes I bade farewell, Forced by the time's relentless tyranny? I had not then the power, nor heart to tell, What thou shalt find, alas! too surely true-- Hope not again on earth thy Laura's face to see." WRANGHAM.