S'Amor non è, che dunque è quel ch'i'sento?

If 'tis not Love, what is it then I feel?
But if 'tis love, Great God what passion's this?
If good—why does it wound like mortal steel?
If ill—why are its torments so like bliss?
If willingly I burn—I grieve amiss;—
And if unwillingly, 'tis vain lamenting—
O! living death! O! torturing happiness!
How canst thou sway me thus, I not consenting?
And if I do consent,—I mourn in vain:—
Thus my frail, helmless bark, at random turning
Her course, with winds in conflict—o'er the main
Drives, error-laden, on—all wisdom spurning;
Nor what I wish, can I myself explain,
Trembling in summer, and in winter burning!
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Francesco Petrarch
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