Canzoniere/Poem V

SONNET
Quand' io movo i sospiri a chiamar voi

HE PLAYS UPON THE NAME LAURETA OR LAURA.

      In sighs when I outbreathe your cherish'd name,
    That name which love has writ upon my heart,
    LAUd instantly upon my doting tongue,
    At the first thought of its sweet sound, is heard;
    Your REgal state, which I encounter next,
    Doubles my valour in that high emprize:
    But TAcit ends the word; your praise to tell
    Is fitting load for better backs than mine.
    Thus all who call you, by the name itself,
    Are taught at once to LAUd and to REvere,
    O worthy of all reverence and esteem!
    Save that perchance Apollo may disdain
    That mortal tongue of his immortal boughs
    Should ever so presume as e'en to speak.

    ANON.