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| (1) [I]. Ne lateant dominum vincula servi sui, quam affectus gratuitas dominantis, et ne alia relata pro aliis, que falsarum oppinionum seminaria frequentius esse solent, negligentem predicent carceratum, ad conspectum Magnificentie vestre presentis oraculi seriem placuit destinare. | (1) Lest the lord should be ignorant of the bonds of his servant, and of the spontaneity of the affection by which he is governed, and lest reports spread abroad at variance with the facts, which too often are wont to prove seed-beds of false opinion, should proclaim to be guilty of negligence him who is a captive, it has seemed good to me to address to the eyes of your Magnificence this present epistle. | |
| (2) [2]. Igitur michi a limine suspirate postea curie separato, in qua, velut sepe sub admiratione vidistis, fas fuit sequi libertatis officia, cum primum pedes iuxta Sarni fluenta securus et incautus defigerem, subito heu! mulier, ceu fulgur descendens, apparuit, nescio quomodo, meis auspitiis undique moribus et forma conformis. | (2) It befell, then, that after my departure from the threshold of that court (which I since have so yearned for), wherein, as you often remarked with amaze, I was privileged to be enrolled in the service of liberty, no sooner had I set foot by the streams of Arno, in all security and heedlessness, than suddenly, woe is me! like a flash of lightning from on high, a woman appeared, I know not how, in all respects answering to my inclinations both in character and appearance. | |
| (3) O quam in eius apparitione obstupui! Sed stupor subsequentis tonitrui terrore cessavit. Nam sicut diurnis coruscationibus illico succedunt tonitrua, sic inspecta fiamma pulcritudinis huius Amor terribilis et imperiosus me tenuit, atque hic ferox, tanquam dominus pulsus a patria post longum exilium sola in sua repatrians, quicquid eius contrarium fuerat intra me, vel occidit vel expulit vel ligavit. | (3) Oh! how was I dumbfounded at the sight of her! But my stupefaction gave place before the terror of the thunder that followed. For just as in our everyday experience the thunder-clap instantaneously follows the flash, so, at the sight of the blaze of this beauty, Love, terrible and imperious, straightway laid hold on me. And he, raging like a despot expelled from his fatherland, who returns to his native soil after long exile, slew or expelled or fettered whatsoever within me was opposed to him. | |
| (4) Occidit ergo propositum illud laudabile quo a mulieribus suisque cantibus abstinebam; ac meditationes assiduas, quibus tam celestia quam terrestria intuebar, quasi suspectas, impie relegavit; et denique, ne contra se amplius anima rebellaret, liberum meum ligavit arbitrium, ut non quo ego, sed quo ille vult, me verti oporteat. | (4) He slew, then, that praiseworthy resolve which held me aloof from women and from songs about women; and he pitilessly banished as suspect those unceasing meditations wherein I used to ponder the things of heaven and of earth; and, finally, that my soul might never again rebel against him, he fettered my free will, so that it behoves me to turn me not whither I will, but whither he wills. | |
| (5) Regnat itaque Amor in me, nulla refragante virtute; qualiterque me regat, inferius extra sinum presentium requiratis. [Seguiva la canzone 'Amor, da che convien pur ch'io mi doglia'] | (5) Love, therefore, reigns within me, with no restraining influence; and in what manner he rules me you must inquire from what follows below outside the limits of this present writing. [Here follows the poem "Amor, da che convien pur ch'io mi doglia" (Rime cxvi)] | |