258. ‘Vive faville uscian de’ duo bei lumi’

Living sparks issued towards me,

sweetly glowing, from two lovely eyes,

and sighing from her wise heart there came

such gentle rivers of noble eloquence,

I seem to be consumed by that memory

whenever I turn to it, recalling

how I felt my spirits fainting

at that variance to her harsh custom.

My soul, always nourished on grief and pain,

(how great the power of a settled habit!)

was so weakened by this double pleasure,

that merely tasting the unaccustomed joy,

trembling now with fear, now with hope,

between the two, it often sought to leave me.