Poems in Two Volumes, Volume 1: X - From the Italian of Michael Angelo

X - From the Italian of Michael Angelo

  Yes! hope may with my strong desire keep pace,
  And I be undeluded, unbetray'd;
  For if of our affections none find grace
  In sight of Heaven, then, wherefore hath God made
  The world which we inhabit? Better plea
  Love cannot have, than that in loving thee
  Glory to that eternal Peace is paid,
  Who such Divinity to thee imparts
  As hallows and makes pure all gentle hearts.
  His hope is treacherous only whose love dies
  With beauty, which is varying every hour;
  But, in chaste hearts uninfluenced by the power
  Of outward change, there blooms a deathless flower,
  That breathes on earth the air of paradise.

Back to chapter list of: Poems in Two Volumes, Volume 1