Sonnet 292 by Petrarch

The eyes I spoke of once in words that burn,
the arms and hands and feet and lovely face
that took me from myself for such a space
of time and marked me out from other men;

the waving hair of unmixed gold that shone,
the smile that flashed with the angelic rays
that used to make this earth a paradise,
are now a little dust, all feeling gone;

and yet I live, grief and disdain to me,
left where the light I cherished never shows,
in fragile bark on the tempestuous sea.

Here let my loving song come to a close;
the vein of my accustomed art is dry,
and this, my lyre, turned at last to tears.

Summary

In this poem the speaker explains the lost of love. In the beginning he is reminiscing the old ways; like the color of his loves hair and her smile. He speaks of her past and character. After introducing her he goes on to mourning her loss. Finally at the end he just break down; this is where states he would never be the same without her (alive). Very dramatic.


http://www.mp3raid.com/music/08_loreena_mckennitt_the_old_ways.html