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Petrarca Sonnet 61

Here is a line-by-line translation and explanation. Keep in mind that there is not only one way to translate poetry. If you look for translations of this sonnet on the Internet, you will find various versions. The most important thing is to understand it enough to get the gist of the poem. Some words are different from modern Italian, for example, duo instead of due (two), ove instead of dove (where), loco instead of luogo (place), desio instead of desiderio (desire).

 

1. Benedetto sia ’l giorno, e ’l mese, e l’anno,

Blessed be the day, and the month, and the year
→ The poet is blessing the moment in time when he first saw the woman he loves.

 

2. e la stagione, e ’l tempo, e l’ora, e ’l punto,

and the season, and the time, and the hour, and the exact point [in time].
→ He continues the list, blessing every detail of that moment.

 

3. e ’l bel paese, e ’l loco ov’io fui giunto

and the beautiful place, and the spot where I was joined
→ He adds the physical place where he happened to be when it happened that he was struck

 

4. da’ duo begli occhi che legato m’hanno;

by two beautiful eyes that bound me;
→ Her eyes “tied” him to her

 

5. e benedetto il primo dolce affanno

and blessed be the first, sweet agony
→ He is also blessing the first "sweet" pain of love

 

6. ch’i’ ebbi ad esser con Amor congiunto,

that I felt when I became joined with Love,
→ When he first fell in love. Amor is another name for Cupid.

 

7. e l’arco, e le saette ond’i’ fui punto,

and the bow and the arrows where I was struck,
→ Love is imagined as Cupid shooting arrows. Saetta is another word for freccia (arrow). 

 

8. e le piaghe che ’nfin al cor mi vanno.

and the wounds that go all the way to my heart.
→ His love wounds are deep — another poetic metaphor.

 

9. Benedette le voci tante ch’io

Blessed be the many voices (words) that I
→ Beginning again with a blessing (implicit subjunctive).

 

10. chiamando il nome de mia donna ho sparte, 

have scattered while calling my lady’s name, — sparte is another past participle (in the feminine plural to agree with voci) of the verb spargere (to scatter)
→ All the times he has spoken her name.

 

11. e i sospiri, e le lagrime, e ’l desio;

and the sighs, the tears, and the desire; desio is an archaic form of desiderio (desire)
→ All the feelings his love caused — also blessed.

 

12. e benedette sian tutte le carte

and blessed be all the pages
→ “The pages” = the poems he has written about her.

 

13. ov’io fama l’acquisto, e ’l pensier mio,

where I gain fame (through writing), and my thoughts,  — Ove is another form of dove (where)
→ His poetry gives him fame; his thoughts 

 

14. ch’è sol di lei, sì ch’altra non v’ha parte.

which belong only to her, so that no other woman has any share in them.
→are entirely of her; there is no place for any other woman. 

 

E il {loco} ov'io fui giunto [e il luogo dove io sono giunto] da duo begli occhi [grazie a quei due begli occhi]

And the place where I was joined by two beautiful eyes

Captions 6-7, La compagnia del cigno EP 5 - Part 3

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