99. ‘Poi che voi et io piú volte abbiam provato’

Since you and I have seen how our hope

has, so many times, turned to disappointment,

raise your heart to a happier state,

towards that great good that never cheats us.

This earthly life’s like a meadow, where

a snake hides among the grass and flowers:

and if anything is pleasing to the eye,

it leaves the spirit more entangled.

So you, who’ve always sought a mind

at peace, before the final day,

follow the few, and not the common crowd.

Though you could well say to me: ‘Brother

you show the way to others, from which

you’ve often strayed, and now more than ever.’