Whene'er it chance that I, alas! remember That eyes I ne'er may lay

On her, for whom I go as one distraught, So many sorrows then this heart encumber, Dull squadroned clouds of thought, That thus I speak: My soul, why not away? Since all the stings, which thou shalt bear alway,

In times e'en now so full of tediousness, Bring mastering fear unto my thoughts full nigh;

Wherefore on Death I cry,

To be my sweet, my gentle restfulness: And say: To me now come, by strong love led,

For I am envious of the happy dead.

And in the gathering thunder of my sighs There peals a piteous moan,

A sound that calls on Death unceasingly. For to Death turned all longing of my eyes, Whereas his cruelty

Had killed that lady whom I call my own; Because the grace, whereto her form had grown,

Soaring beyond the limit of our sight, Became a beatific vision rare,

Which doth Love's beacon bear

Through heaven, saluting angels with its light,

And makes their high intelligence no less Than marvel greatly: such her gentleness.

XXXV. In quel giorno, nel quale si compiva l'anno, che questa donna era fatta de' cittadini di vita éterna, io mi sedea in parte, nella quale ricordandomi di lei, disegnava un Angelo sopra certe tavolette : e mentre io 'l disegnava, volsi gli occhi, e vidi lungo me uomini a' quali si convenía di fare onore. E' riguardavano quello ch'io facea; e secondo che mi fu detto poi, egli erano stati già alquanto anzi che io me n'accorgessi. Quando li vidi, mi levai, e salutando loro dissi : "Altri era testè meco, e perciò pensava." Onde partiti costoro, ritornaimi alla mia opera, cioè del disegnare figure d'angeli. Facendo ciò, mi venne un pensiero di dire parole per rima quasi per annovale di lei, e scrivere a costoro, li quali erano venuti a me e dissi allora questo sonetto, che comincia: Era venuta, lo quale ha due cominciamenti; e però lo dividerò secondo l'uno e l'altro.

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XXXV. On that day, when the year was fulfilled that this lady had been made a citizen of eternal life, I was sitting in a place, where, thinking of her, I was drawing an angel upon some panels; and while I was drawing, I turned my eyes and saw men beside me whom it was fitting to honour. They were looking at that which I was doing, and according to what was told me afterwards, they had been there some time before I perceived them. When I saw them I rose, and, saluting them, said, "Another was just then with me, wherefore I was in thought." Whereupon, when they had departed, I returned to my work, that is, the drawing figures of angels. While I was doing this, the thought came to me to make a poem as for her anniversary, and to address it to those honourable ones who had been with me. I made then this sonnet, beginning "There came," which has two beginnings, and therefore I shall divide it according to the one and the other.

Dico che secondo il primo, questo sonetto ha tre parti: nella prima dico che questa donna era già nella mia memoria; nella seconda dico quello che Amore però mi facea; nella terza dico degli effetti d'Amore. La seconda comincia quivi: Amor, che; la terza quivi: Piangendo usciano. Questa parte si divide in due: nell'una dico che tutti i miei sospiri usciano parlando; nell'altra dico come alquanti diceano certe parole diverse dagli altri. La seconda comincia quivi: Ma quelli. Per questo medesimo modo si divide secondo l'altro cominciamento; salvo che nella prima parte dico quando questa donna era così venuta nella mia mente, e ciò non dico nell' altro.

I say that as to the first this sonnet has three parts: in the first I say that this lady was already in my memory. In the second I say what Love was therefore doing unto me; in the third I tell of the effects of Love. The second begins: "When Love;" the third: "From out my breast." This part is divided into two; in one I say how all my sighs turned to words, in the second I tell how some turned to words different from the others. The second begins: "But those." In the same way the sonnet is divided according to the second beginning, save that in the first part I tell when this lady came into my memory, and I do not say that in the other.