254. ‘I’pur ascolto, et non odo novella’

I listen closely, and I hear no news

of my sweet beloved enemy,

I do not know what to think or say

my heart’s so torn between hope and fear.

Others have been harmed by being beautiful:

she is more noble, lovely, chaste than others:

perhaps God wishes to take so virtuous a friend

away from earth, and make her a star in heaven:

or a sun rather: and, if it is so, my life,

my brief repose and long trouble

have reached their end. O harsh departure,

why have you worked me harm from afar?

My brief tale is almost complete,

and, half-way through my years, my time is done.