II 
  GUIDO CAVALCANTI A DANTE
  IN RISPOSTA AL SONETTO I
  
  Vedeste, al mio parere, onne valore 
    e tutto gioco e quanto bene om sente, 
    se foste in prova del segnor valente 
    che segnoreggia il mondo de l'onore, 
    poi vive, in parte dove noia more 
    e ten ragion nel casser de la mente: 
    sì va soave per sonni a la gente, 
    che i cor ne porta sanza far dolore. 
  Di voi lo core ne portò, veggendo 
    che vostra donna la morte chedea; 
    nodrilla de lo cor, di ciò temendo. 
    Quando v'apparve che ne gia dogliendo, 
    fu dolce sonno ch'allor si compiea, 
    ché 'l su' contraro lo venia vincendo. 
 

II
  GUIDO CAVALCANTI'S REPLY


 What you saw, I think, was all nobility 
   and all joy and all the good that man can know;
   since that great lord was proving his power 
   over you, who is lord of the world of honour:
   for where he dwells tedium and trouble die, 
   and he holds court in the keep of the mind; 
   and so softly does he come during sleep that he
   takes men's hearts away without pain. 
 He took your heart away, seeing that your lady
   was sinking towards death; and it was because
   he feared this that he gave it her to eat.
   And when you saw him leave in sorrow, this
   was the moment when your sweet sleep was
   ending, being overcome by its contrary.