Francesco Petrarch

Oh! could I throw aside these earthly bands
That tie me down where wretched mortals sigh--
To read more

Oh! could I throw aside these earthly bands
That tie me down where wretched mortals sigh--
To join blest spirits in celestial lands!

It is more honorable to be raised to a throne than to be born to one. Fortune bestows the one, read more

It is more honorable to be raised to a throne than to be born to one. Fortune bestows the one, merit obtains the other.

Yon nightingale, whose strain so sweetly flows,
Mourning her ravish'd young or much-loved mate,
A soothing charm read more

Yon nightingale, whose strain so sweetly flows,
Mourning her ravish'd young or much-loved mate,
A soothing charm o'er all the valleys throws
And skies, with notes well tuned to her and state.

Those spacious regions where our fancies roam,
Pain'd by the past, expecting ills to come,
In some read more

Those spacious regions where our fancies roam,
Pain'd by the past, expecting ills to come,
In some dread moment. by the fates assign'd,
Shall pass away, nor leave a rack behind;
And Time's revolving wheels shall lose at last
The speed that spins the future and the past:
And, sovereign of an undisputed throne,
Awful eternity shall reign alone.

The time will come when every change shall cease,
This quick revolving wheel shall rest in peace:
read more

The time will come when every change shall cease,
This quick revolving wheel shall rest in peace:
No summer then shall glow, not winter freeze;
Nothing shall be to come, and nothing past,
But an eternal now shall ever last.