Explore "Amor Fra L' Orbe Una Leggiadra Rete" by Francesco Petrarca on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
HE COMPARES HIMSELF TO A BIRD CAUGHT IN A NET.
Love 'mid the grass beneath a laurel green -- / The plant divine which long my flame has fed, / Whose shade for me less bright than sad is seen -- / A cunning net of gold and pearls had spread: / Its bait the seed he sows and reaps, I ween / Bitter and sweet, which I desire, yet dread: / Gentle and soft his call, as ne'er has been / Since first on Adam's eyes the day was shed: / And the bright light which disenthrones the sun / Was flashing round, and in her hand, more fair / Than snow or ivory, was the master rope.
So fell I in the snare; their slave so won / Her speech angelical and winning air, / Pleasure, and fond desire, and sanguine hope.
MACGREGOR.