29. ‘Verdi panni, sanguigni, oscuri o persi’

Green dresses, crimson, black or purple,

were never worn by ladies,

nor golden hair tied in a fair braid,

as beautifully as she who robs me

of my will, and takes away the path

of my liberty, so I cannot even

tolerate a lighter yoke.

And even if my spirit begins to grieve,

losing its judgement,

when suffering brings doubt,

the loose will is quickly restrained

by the sight of her, who razes from my heart

every mad project, and makes all

disdain sweet through seeing her.

I will have revenge, for all that Love

has made me suffer, all I must still suffer

until she heals the heart she ravaged,

she, alien to pity, but still enticing,

unless Anger and Pride opposing Humility

close off and deny the way

that leads to her.

And the day and the hour that opened my eyes

to the lovely dark and the lovely white

that emptied me of that where Love now lives,

were the new roots of the life that troubles me,

as she does in whom our age is reflected,

for he is made of lead or stone

whom she does not make afraid.

So no tear of those I weep,

because of these arrow-tips

bathing my heart, that first felt them, in blood,

signifies that I un-wish what I wished,

the punishment falls in the right place:

through the eyes my soul sighs, and it’s right

that they bathe my wounds.

My own thoughts struggle against me:

so Dido, weary as I am now,

turned her beloved sword against herself:

yet I do not pray for my freedom,

since all other roads to heaven are less true,

and there is no safer ship in which to aspire

to the glorious kingdom.

Benign stars that were friends

to that fortunate womb

when that beauty came to this world!

She is a star on earth, and she keeps

her chastity as laurel stays green,

so no lightning strikes her, no shameful breeze

can ever force her.

I know that to capture her praise in verse

would be to exceed

the most worthy that set hand to writing.

What cell of memory is there in which to hold

so much virtue and so much beauty together

that shine in her eyes, the sign of all value,

the key to unlock my heart.

Lady, beneath the sun’s circle, Love has

no greater treasure than you.