117. ‘Se’l sasso, ond’è piú chiusa questa valle,’

If the rock by which this valley’s closed,

from which its proper name is derived,

had through natural aversion turned

its face to Rome and its back to Babel,

my sighs would have a gentler path

to follow to where their hope’s alive:

now they scatter, and yet each arrives

where I commanded, and not one fails.

And once there they are received so sweetly,

as I can tell, that none of them returns:

staying in those regions with delight.

The grief is in my eyes, so that at dawn,

they are taken by such desire for that lovely land,

they grant me tears, and weariness for my feet.

Note: The valley is Vaucluse: Babel, the Papal Court at Avignon.

‘Catherine at the Court of the Pope in Avignon’ - Cornelis Galle (I) (Dutch, 1576 - 1650), The Rijksmuseum