352. ‘Spirto felice che sí dolcemente’

from those eyes, brighter than the sun,

and formed the sighs and speech,

so alive they still echo in my mind:

I once saw you, burning with virtue’s fire,

moving your feet among the grass and flowers,

not like a woman, but as the angels do,

a form that is more vivid to me than ever:

which you then left on earth, the sweet veil

that came to you at birth by high destiny,

in order to return to your Maker.

At your parting, Love and Courtesy departed

from the world, the sun fell from the sky

and death itself began to seem so sweet.

Notes