Petrarch, Sir Thomas Wyatt and William Barnes: Sonnet 189, two translations from the Italian

Petrarch, Sonnet 189

Passa la nave mia colma d'oblio
per aspro mare, a mezza notte il verno,
enfra Scilla et Caribdi; et al governo
siede 'l signore, anzi 'l nimico mio.

A ciascun remo un penser pronto et rio
che la tempesta e 'l fin par ch'abbi a scherno;
la vela rompe un vento humido eterno
di sospir', di speranze, et di desio.

Pioggia di lagrimar, nebbia di sdegni
bagna et rallenta le già stanche sarte,
che son d'error con ignorantia attorto.

Celansi i duo mei dolci usati segni;
morta fra l'onde è la ragion et l'arte,
tal ch'incomincio a desperar del porto

Sir Thomas Wyatt's version:

My galley charged with forgetfulness

   Thorough sharp seas in winter nights doth pass

   ‘Tween rock and rock; and eke mine enemy, alas,

   That is my lord, steereth with cruelness;

And every oar a thought in readiness,

   As though that death were light in such a case.

   An endless wind doth tear the sail apace

   Of forced sighs, and trusty fearfulness.

A rain of tears, a cloud of dark disdain,

   Hath done the wearied cords great hinderance;

   Wreathed with error and eke with ignorance,

The stars be hid that led me to this pain;

   Drowned is reason that should me consort,

And I remain despairing of the port.

Sir Thomas Wyatt fell ill and died (11th October 1542) at Clifton Maybank, near Bradford Abbas, Yeovil and Sherborne, en route to Falmouth. He is buried in Sherborne Abbey.

William Barnes' translation (from William Barnes of Dorset, Giles Dugdale, 1953)

Barnes included his translation in a letter to Julia Miles (his wife-to-be), dated Mere, December 4, 1826. He tells her that he translated it for amusement, adding that "it suited my case at that that time in some points". 


Barnes in Love, Alan Chedzoy, Dorset Life

Related:

Another Petrarch Sonnet, Una Candida Cerva, set to music by my great friend, the late Raul Scacchi


See also, William Barnes Society on Facebook