266. ‘Signor mio caro, ogni pensier mi tira’

as always, with devotion, turns to seeing you,

but fate holds me (what more could she do to me?)

reined in, and twists me round and round.

Then sweet desire that Love breathes into me

leads me to death, so that I barely feel it:

and between my two guiding lights I cry out,

wherever I am, day and night, sighing so.

Fondness for my lord, love of my lady,

are the two chains I’m bound with,

in much distress, so that I torment myself.

I’ve carried in my breast, a green laurel,

a noble column, one for fifteen, one for eighteen

years, and may not sever myself from them.

Note: Laura is the green laurel, Cardinal Giovanni Colonna the noble column.

Three Nymphs Surrounding the Daphne Laurel, Raphael de la Planche

‘Three Nymphs Surrounding the Daphne Laurel’ - Raphael de la Planche (French, ca. 1627 - 1690), The Getty Open Content Program">The Getty Open Content Program

Notes