Amor sì vuole, e par-li, 
Ch'i' 'n ogni guisa parli 
E ched i' faccia un detto, 
Che sia per tutto detto, 
Ch'i' l'ag[g]ia ben servito. 
Po' ch'e' m'eb[b]e 'nservito 
E ch'i' gli feci omaggio, 
I' l'ò tenuto o·maggio 
E ter[r]ò giamà' sempre; 
E questo fin asempr' è 
A ciascun amoroso, 
Sì c[h]'Amor amoroso 
No·gli sia nella fine, 
Anzi ch'e' metta a fine 
Ciò ch'e' disira avere, 
Che val me' c[h]'altro avere. 
Ed egli è sì cortese 
Che chi gli sta cortese 
Od a man giunte avante, 
Esso sì'l mette avante 
Di ciò ched e' disira, 
E di tutto il dis-ira. 
Amor non vuol logag[g]io, 
Ma e' vuol ben, lo gag[g]io, 
Ch'è 'l tu' cuor, si'a lu' fermo. 
Allor dice: «I' t'afermo 
Di ciò che·ttu domandi, 
Sanza che·ttu do·mandi»; 
E dónati in presente, 
Sanz' esservi presente 
Di fino argento o d'oro, 

Perch'i' a·llui m'adoro 
Come leal amante. 
·Allu' fo graz[z]e, amante 
Quella che d'ogne bene 
È sì guernita bene 
Che 'n le' non truov' uon pare; 
E quand' ella m'apare, 
Sì grande gioia mi dona 
Che lo me' cor s'adona 
A le' sempre servire, 
E di le' vo' serv' ire, 
Tant' à in le' piacimento. 
Non so se piacimento 
Le' fia ched i' la serva: 
Almen può dir che serv' à, 
Come ch'i' poco vaglia. 
Amor nessun non vaglia, 
Ma ciascun vuole ed ama, 
Chi di lui ben s'inama, 
E di colu' fa forza 
Che ['n] compiacer fa forza 
E nonn-à, i·nulla, parte. 
Amor i·nulla part' è 
Ch'e' non sia tutto presto 
A fine amante presto. 
Così sue cose livera 
A chi l'amor no·llivera 
E mette pene e 'ntenza 
In far sua penetenza 
Tal chente Amor comanda 
A chi a·llu s'acomanda; 

E chi la porta in grado, 
Il mette in alto grado 
Di ciò ched e' disia: 
Per me cotal dì sia! 
Per ch'i' già non dispero, 
Ma ciaschedun dì spero 
Merzé, po' 'n su' travaglio 
I' son sanza travaglio, 
E sonvi sì legato 
Ch'i' non vo' che legato 
Giamai me ne prosciolga: 
Se·nn'à d'altri pro', sciolga! 
Ch'i' vo' ch'Amor m'aleghi, 
Che che Ragion m'alleghi: 
Di lei il me' cor sicura, 
Né più di lei non cura; 
Ella si fa dïessa: 
Né·ffu né fia di essa. 
Amor blasma ed isfama 
E dice ch'e' di[s]fama, 
Ma non del mi', certano: 
Perch'i' per le' certan ò 
Che ciaschedun s'abatte; 
Me' ched Amor sa, batte. 
Ed a me dice: «Folle, 
Perché cosi t'afolle 
D'aver tal signoria? 
I' dico, signó·ri' à 
Chi porta su' sug[g]ello. 
I' per me non sug[g]ello 
Della sua 'imprenta, breve, 

Ch'è troppo corta e breve 
La gioia, e la noia lunga. 
Or taglia ' geti, e lunga 
Da lui, ch'egl[i] è di parte 
Che, chi da lu' si parte, 
E' fug[g]e e si va via. 
Or non tener sua via, 
Se vuo' da·llu' campare; 
E se non, mal camp' are, 
Che biado non vi grana, 
Anzi perde la grana 
Chiunque la vi getta. 
Perdio, or te ne getta 
Di quel falso diletto, 
E fa che si'a diletto 
Del mi', ched egli è fine, 
Che dà gioia sanza fine. 
Lo dio dov' ài credenza 
Non ti farà credenza 
Se non come Fortuna. 
Tu·sse' in gran fortuna, 
Se non prendi buon porto 
Per quel ched i' t'ò porto, 
Ed a me non t'aprendi 
E 'l mi' sermone aprendi. 
Or mi rispondi e di', 
Ch'egli è ancor gran dì 
A farmi tua risposta; 
Ma non mi far risposta 
A ciò ch'i' ò proposato. 
Dì tu se pro' posat' ò». 

 Love so decrees, and deems it proper,  
that I should speak in this particular way  
and compose a detto, 
so that it may be proclaimed everywhere  
how well I served him.  
Since he took me in his service  
and I made my pledge to him,  
I have held him as my lord  
and will do so forever.  
And this will be a perfect example  
for every lover,  
so that Love will not  
be bitter to him in the end, 
but rather that Love will let him have  
the object of his desire,  
which is more valuable than anything else.  
And he is so courteous  
that if someone appears before him humbly 
or in a position of supplication, 
he will help that one obtain  
whatever he desires  
and will take all his displeasure away.  
Love desires no payment,  
but he does require this pledge:  
that your heart be faithful to him.  
Then he says: "I grant you  
all that you ask  
without your sending any gifts." 
And immediately he gives you a gift  
without there being any gifts  
of fine silver and gold,  

for which reason I worship him  
as a devout lover. 
To him I give thanks, for I love  
that lady who is so well endowed  
with every good quality  
that her equal cannot be found;  
and when she appears before me,  
she gives me such great joy  
that my heart gives itself over  
to serving her constantly,  
and I want to become her servant  
for so much pleasure is in her.  
I don't know if she wants  
me to serve her: 
at least she can say she has a servant,  
although I am of little worth.  
Love refuses no one,  
but desires and loves all those  
who eagerly fall in love, 
and esteems those  
who strive to please him  
and are completely subservient.  
Love is always  
completely willing to help  
a perfect lover who's willing to serve.  
Thus, he gives his bounty  
to the one who does not abandon love  
and puts much effort and desire  
into doing such penance  
as Love imposes  
on the one who trusts him;  

and if one bears the penance gladly,  
Love puts this one in a high place  
with respect to the object of his desire:  
May such a day dawn for me!  
For this reason I do not despair,  
but every day hope 
for favors, since, in his torture chamber,  
I am without pain  
and am bound there so securely  
that I do not wish a papal legate  
to ever loose my bonds:  
if others may profit from it, let them be loosed!  
For I wish to be bound to Love  
no matter what Reason may allege;  
Love protects my heart from her,  
and it is no longer concerned with her;  
she declares herself a goddess,  
but she never was nor ever will be one.  
Reason censures and disparages Love  
and says that he's dishonorable,  
but certainly not with me: 
because from her I know for sure  
that anyone can be defeated;  
she attacks Love as best she knows how.  
And she says to me: "Foolish one,  
why do you strive so foolishly  
to have such a lordship?  
I mean that whoever  
bears his seal has a terrible lord.  
For myself I do not put my seal  
on any paper that bears his stamp,  

for happiness is too short and fleeting,  
and unpleasantness much too long.  
Now cut your bonds and go far away  
from him, for Love's nature is such that,  
he shuns the one who gets away from him,  
and goes the other way.  
Thus, do not follow his path,  
if you want to escape from him;  
otherwise you are plowing a bad field 
in which good grain will not grow;  
indeed, whoever sows there  
will lose his seed.  
For God's sake, get away  
from that false pleasure,  
and let my pleasure be yours,  
for it is perfect  
and gives unending joy.  
The god in whom you put your faith  
will give you no guarantees,  
except those that Fortune gives.  
You will be in a great storm,  
if you do not find a safe harbor  
according to what I've told you,  
and if you don't cling to me  
and learn from what I've said.  
Now answer me and speak,  
for there's still a lot of time  
for you to give me your answer;  
but don't simply reject  
what I've proposed.  
Tell me if I've framed the problem well."