[The English translation by Meredith Russo and Thomas H. Luxon]
Introduction. In Sonnet 2, we learn the name of lady described in several of Milton's Italian sonnets: Emilia. There is some debate over whether Emilia is actually Italian or an English friend of Milton and Charles Diodati, who, like Diodati, had an Italian parent. However, from Sonnet 4 we learn that she posseses an exotic, dark beauty, and speaks a foreign tongue, most likely Italian. Whereas Sonnet 4 praises Emilia's beauty in anti-Petrarchan terms (dark beauty rather than fair skin and rosy cheeks), Sonnet 2 praises Emilia in ways much more typical of sixteenth-century love lyrics. Milton uses common imagery and allusions, such as Emilia's eyes bearing the power of Cupid's bow, and her irresistibly beautiful voice posing a danger to men. This sonnet and Sonnet 6 finish with a pair of tercets, having the rhyme scheme of cdc, dce. Another poet well known for using tercets this way was Petrarch, who has an obvious influence on this sonnet as well as on Milton's other five Italian lyrics in this group.
lady. The lady is Emilia, who was perhaps a friend of Charles Diodati. Emilia is also the name of an Italian province which the Reno (Rhine) and the Rubicon (Hughes 54).
famous ford [nobil varco]. A ford in the Rubicon River found in the Emilia region of Italy, made famous by Caesar's crossing en route to Rome. This direct allusion is omitted in the translation.
line 6. 1673 has "sui" instead of "suoi."
line 7. 1673 has a period instead of a comma.
Love's bow. Conventionally in Renaissance love sonnets, a woman's eyes or glance often are figured as possessing the wounding power of Cupid's weapons. This image of emotions darting from eyes comes up often in Milton's verse. See especially Paradise Lost 8.62-63, and 488 and 9.1035.