112. ‘Sennuccio, I’ vo’ che sapi in qual manera’

I am treated, and what my life is like:

I burn, and am consumed, as I used to be:

the breeze whirls me, and I am as I was.

Here I saw her all humility, and its opposite,

now harsh, now soft, now pitiless, now kind:

now clothed in nobility, now in grace,

now tame, now disdainful and wild.

Here she sang sweetly, and here she sat:

here she turned, and here took a step back:

here, with her lovely eyes, she pierced my heart:

here she spoke a word, and here she smiled:

here her face changed. Alas, both night and day,

our lord, Love, holds me, with such thoughts.

Note: Sennuccio, see poems 108, 111, 113, 287.

Notes