Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374)

Translated by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Dolci durezze e placide repulse

GENTLE severity, repulses mild,

Full of chaste love and pity sorrowing;

Graceful rebukes, that had the power to bring

Back to itself a heart by dreams beguiled;

A soft-toned voice, whose accents undefiled

Held sweet restraints, all duty honouring;

The bloom of virtue; purity’s clear spring

To cleanse away base thoughts and passions wild;

Divinest eyes to make a lover’s bliss,

Whether to bridle in the wayward mind

Lest its wild wanderings should the pathway miss,

Or else its griefs to soothe, its wounds to bind;

This sweet completeness of thy life it is

That saved my soul; no other peace I find.