If it is not love, what then is it that I feel? But if it is love, before God, what kind of thing is it? If it is good, whence comes this bitter mortal effect? If it is evil, why is each torment so sweet?

S'amor non è, che dunque è quel ch'io sento?
Ma s'egli è amor, perdio, che cosa et quale?
Se bona, onde l'effecto aspro mortale?
Se ria, onde sí dolce ogni tormento?

Original text (Italian)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Petrarch (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.