Sonnet 292

"Sonnet 292" by Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)

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.

Sonnet 292 explains the loss of love in a loving way and then half way through the poem, the author spills his mourns. The tone is definitely dramatic through the way he explains this great love for someone and then completely destroys it. His word choice is simple but powerful at the same time. I like this poem because of its dramatic format and its simplicity.