261. ‘Qual donna attende a glorïosa fama’

That lady who hopes for glorious fame

for her wisdom, virtue, courtesy,

should fix her eyes on my enemy,

that the world knows as my lady.

There, how to acquire honour, and be loved

by God, how chastity and grace conjoin,

is learned, and the truest way to climb

to heaven, that waits and hopes for her,

there, the speech no style can capture,

the lovely silences, her dear ways,

no human wit can unfold in words:

but the infinite beauty that dazzles others,

is not learned there: since those sweet eyes

are achieved by destiny and not by art.