Sonnet 134
From Wikisource
| Sonnet 134 by |
| Translation of Petrarch's Rima, Sonnet 134, by Thomas Wyatt
Caveat: Readers should know that "translation" in the early modern period was more like "adaptation." This does not reflect a word-for-word translation of Petrarch's poetry (which is what modern readers expect). This is Wyatt's poem, and it can scarcely be called Petrarch's any more. |
I find no peace, and all my war is done;
- I fear and hope; I burn and freeze like ice;
- I fly above the wind, yet can I not arise;
And nought I have, and all the world I seize on;
That looseth nor locketh holdeth me in prison
- And holdeth me not, yet can I 'scape nowise;
- Nor letteth me live nor die at my device,
And yet of death it giveth none occasion.
Withouten eyen, I see; and without tongue I plain;
- I desire to perish, and yet I ask health;
- I love another, and thus I hate myself;
I feed me in sorrow, and laugh in all my pain;
- Likewise displeaseth me both death and life;
- And my delight is causer of this strife.
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This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. |
