116. ‘Pien di quella ineffabile dolcezza’

Full of that ineffable sweetness

that my eyes drew from her lovely face,

so I’d have closed them willingly

that day, never to see any lesser beauty,

I left what I loved more: and have so set

my mind on contemplating her alone,

that I see no one else, and what is not her

I hate and despise, through constant habit.

Thoughtful and late, I came with Love alone

into a valley that’s closed all round,

that leaves me refreshed with sighs.

No ladies there, but fountains and stones,

and I find the image of that day

my thoughts depict, wherever I gaze.

Note: The closed valley: Valchiusa in Italian, Vaucluse in French.

‘Spring of Vaucluse’ - Hendrik Roosing (Dutch, 1786 - 1826), The Rijksmuseum