Petrarch (57 page)

all wrought with ivory and ebony;

the sea was calm
, the breeze was gently blowing,

e ’l ciel qual è se nulla nube il vela,

ella carca di ricca merce onesta.

Poi repente tempesta

oriental turbò sì l’aere et Fonde

che la nave percosse ad uno scoglio.

O che grave cordoglio,

breve ora oppresse et poco spazio asconde

l’alte ricchezze a null’altre seconde!

In un boschetto novo i rami santi

fiorian d’un lauro giovenetto et schietto

ch’ un delli arbor parea di paradiso;

et di sua ombra uscian sì dolci canti

di vari augelli et tant’ altro diletto

che dal mondo m’avean tutto diviso.

Et mirandol io fiso,

cangiossi ’l cielo intorno, et tinto in vista

folgorando ’l percosse et da radice

quella pianta felice

subito svelse, onde mia vita è trista,

che simile ombra mai non si racquista.

Chiara fontana in quel medesmo bosco

sorgea d’un sasso et acque fresche et dolci

spargea soavemente mormorando;

al bel seggio riposto ombroso et fosco

né pastori appressavan né bifolci,

ma ninfe et muse a quel tenor cantando.

Ivi m’assisi, et quando

più dolcezza prendea di tal concento

et di tal vista, aprir vidi uno speco

et portarsene seco

la fonte e ’l loco, ond’ ancor doglia sento

et sol de la memoria mi sgomento.

Una strania fenice, ambedue l’ale

di porporavestita e ’l capo d’oro,

vedendo per la selva altera et sola,

veder forma celeste ed immortale

prima pensai, fin ch’ a lo svelto alloro

giunse ed al fonte che la terra invola.

Ogni cosa al fin vola:

and there was not a cloud to veil the sky;

with rich and
precious cargo
she was laden.

And then
a sudden storm

out of the East so shook the
air and waters
,

the boat was shattered up against the rocks.

Oh
what oppressing grief
:

in short time crushed, and
little space now hides
,

high riches that are second to no others!

Within a youthful grove were flowering

the boughs of a
young, slender laurel tree

that seemed to have been grown in Paradise;

and from her shade there came so sweet a sound

of
different birds
and so much other joy

that it had
cut me off
from the real world.

And as I stared at her

the sky
around her changed, and turning black

it
struck with lightning
, and then by the roots

that happy plant was torn

up suddenly, and now my life is sorrow,

for
shade like this
can never be regained.

Inside that very grove
a sparkling fountain

sprang from a rock
, and its fresh, loving waters

it poured forth with a
gentle murmuring
.

To that secluded place so
fair and shady

no shepherds and no boors
would come, but only

muses and nymphs
singing to that clear flow.

I sat down there
, and while

I took more sweetness
from such harmony

and from that sight, I saw a chasm open

and sweep it all away,

fountain and place
, and I am still left grieving,

and just the thought of it
fills me with fear
.

A marvelous phoenix
with both of its wings

adorned in purple
and its head in gold,

I saw there
in the woods
, proud and alone.

At first I thought
it was a holy thing,

immortal, till it reached the
torn-out laurel

and came upon the spring stolen away.

All things rush
to their end;

chè mirando le frondi a terra sparse

e ’l troncon rotto et quel vivo umor secco,

volse in se stessa il becco,

quasi sdegnando, e ’n un punto disparse,

onde ’l cor di pietate et d’amor m’arse.

Alfin vid’ io per entro i fiori et l’erba

pensosa ir sì leggiadra et bella Donna

che mai nol penso ch’ i’ non arda et treme,

umile in sé, ma ’ncontra Amor superba;

ed avea in dosso si candida gonna,

si testa, ch’or et neve parea inseme,

ma le parti supreme

eran avolte d’una nebbia oscura.

Punta poi nel tallon d’un picciol angue

come fior coito langue

lieta si dipartio, non che secura:

ahi nulla altro che pianto al mondo dura!

Canzon, tu puoi ben dire:

“Queste sei visioni al signor mio

àn fatto un dolce di morir desio.”

Amor, quando fioria

mia spene e ’l guidardon di tanta fede,

tolta m’è quella ond’ attendea mercede.

Ahi dispietata Morte, ahi crudel vita!

luna m’à posto in doglia

et mie speranze acerbamente à spente;

l’altra mi ten qua giù contra mia voglia,

et lei che se n’è gita

seguir non posso, ch’ ella no ’l consente.

Ma pur ogni or presente

nel mezzo del meo cor Madonna siede,

et qual è la mia vita, ella se ’l vede.

for, seeing all the
leaves strewn on the ground
,

the trunk broken, those
living waters dry
,

against herself she turned

her beak, as if in scorn,
and quickly vanished
—

pity and love then
set my heart aflame
.

At last I saw through grass and flowers walking

in thought
a lady
fair, so full of joy—

to think of it
sets me aflame and shaking
—

humble
within herself, haughty to Love;

and she had on a gown
so very white
,

so woven
that it seemed of snow and gold,

but all
the upper part

of her was shrouded in a mist of dark.

Then
stung upon her heel
by a
small snake
,

as a cut flower withers
,

she
left in joy
and more than confident:

ah, nothing but our tears last in this world!

My song, you well may say:

“These six visions just
given to my lord

have given him a
sweet wish to know death
.”

Love, when my
hope was blossoming
,

the
guerdon
of such faithfulness as mine,

taken from me was she who
promised mercy
.

Ah Death
that shows no pity, ah cruel Life!

One fixes me in sorrow

and
kills my hopes
before they have matured;

the other holds me here against my will,

and she who is now gone

I cannot follow, Death will not allow.

But still
, always in presence

in my heart’s very center
sits Madonna
,

and
she sees for herself
what my life’s like.

Tacer non posso, et temo non adopre

contrario effetto la mia lingua al core

che vorria far onore

a la sua donna, che dal Ciel n’ascolta.

Come poss’ io, se non m’insegni, Amore,

con parole mortaii aguagliar l’opre

divine et quel che copre

alta umiltate in se stessa raccolta?

Ne la bella pregione onde or è sciolta

poco era stato ancor l’alma gentile

al tempo che di lei prima m’accorsi;

onde subito corsi

(ch’ era de l’anno et di mi’ etate aprile)

a coglier fiori in quei prati dintorno,

sperando a li occhi suoi piacer sì addorno.

Muri eran d’alabastro e ’l tetto d’oro,

d’avorio uscio, et fenestre di zaffiro

onde ’l primo sospiro

mi giunse al cor et giugnerà l’estremo;

inde i messi d’Amor armati usciro

di saette et di foco, ond’ io di loro

coronad d’alloro,

pur come or fusse, ripensando tremo.

D’un bel diamante quadro et mai non scemo

vi si vedea nel mezzo un seggio altero

ove sola sedea la bella donna;

dinanzi una colonna

cristallina, et iv’ entro ogni pensero

scritto et for tralucea sì chiaramente

che mi fea lieto et sospirar sovente.

A le pungenti ardenti et lucide arme,

a la vittoriosa insegna verde

contra cui in campo perde

Giove et Apollo et Polifemo et Marte,

ov’ è ’l pianto ogni or fresco et si rinverde,

giunto mi vidi, et non possendo aitarme

preso lassai menarme

ond’ or non so d’uscir la via né l’arte.

Silent I cannot be
, but still I fear

my tongue may not achieve my heart’s intent

whose wish it is to honor

its lady who is hearing us from Heaven.

How can I,
if you do not teach me, Love
,

with
mortal words do justice
to the work

divine,
concealed
in high

humility collected in itself?

Not long
had she been in the
lovely prison

from which she now is free, that gracious soul,

when I first
realized that she existed
;

and
so quickly I ran
—

the April of my
years and of that year
—

to gather flowers in the fields around

and hoping, so adorned, to please her eyes.

The walls were alabaster
, the roof gold,

the entrance ivory,
sapphire the windows

from where the first of sighs

reached to my heart as will my very last,

from where Love’s messengers
burst forth all armed

with flame and arrows, and whenever I

think of them crowned in laurel

again
I tremble
as if then were now.

Within there could be seen
a lofty throne

of diamond squarely cut, without a fault,

on which the lovely lady sat alone;

in front of her
a column

crystalline where all of the thoughts inscribed

inside of it shone through so brilliantly

that often I was happy in my sighing.

To the piercing, all aflame, and shining arms,

and to that
green ensign of victory

against which in a battle

Jove and Apollo
, Polyphemus, Mars

would lose, where
tears
are always fresh and green

I saw that I had come, and helplessly

I
let myself be taken

and have no way or means of getting out.

Ma sì com’ uom talor che piange et parte

vede cosa che li occhi e ’l cor alletta,

cosi colei per ch’ io son in pregione

standosi ad un balcone,

che fu sola a’ suoi dì cosa perfetta,

cominciai a mirar con tal desio

che me stesso e ’l mio mal posi in oblio.

I’ era in terra e ’l cor in paradiso

dolcemente obliando ogni altra cura,

et mia viva figura

far sentia un marmo e ’mpier di meraviglia;

quando una donna assai pronta et secura,

di tempo antica et giovene del viso,

vedendomi sì fiso

a l’atto de la fronte et de le ciglia:

“Meco,” mi disse, “meco ti consiglia,

ch’ i’ son d’altro poder che tu non credi

et so far lieti et tristi in un momento,

più leggiera che ’l vento;

et reggo et volvo quanto al mondo vedi.

Tien pur gli occhi come aquila in quel sole,

parte da’ orecchi a queste mie parole.

“Il dì che costei nacque, eran le stelle

che producon fra voi felici effetti

in luoghi alti et eletti

l’una ver l’altra con amor converse.

Venere e ’l padre con benigni aspetti

tenean le parti signorili et belle,

et le luci impie et felle

quasi in tutto del ciel eran disperse.

“Il sol mai sì bel giorno non aperse,

l’aere et la terra s’allegrava, et l’acque

per lo mar avean pace et per li fiumi.

Fra tanti amici lumi

una nube lontana mi dispiacque,

la qual temo che ’n pianto si resolve

se Pietate altramente il ciel non volve.

“Com’ ella venne in questo viver basso,

ch’ a dir il ver non fu degno d’averla,

But as a man who weeps sometimes
departing

will see something that gladdens eyes and heart,

just so, when she, for whom I am in prison,

standing
on a balcony
,

she who
alone was perfect
in her days,

I began to look at her with such desire

that I forgot myself and my misfortune.

I was on earth, my heart in paradise,

forgetting sweetly every other care,

and I felt my live body

turning to marble
, filling up with wonder;

when, very swift and sure, a lady,

old in her years but youthful in her look,

who saw me so intent

from the expression on my face and brow

announced to me:
“With me, consult with me
,

for I have greater power than you think

and can gladden and sadden
in an instant
,

I’m lighter than the wind

and rule and change all things you see on earth.

Keep your eyes fixed
like an eagle on that sun

and meanwhile
pay attention
to my words.

“
The day that she was born
all of those stars

producing good effects among you there,

in high, selected places,

turned lovingly around to one another.

Both Venus and her father
with good influence

were holding to
those noble, lovely parts