Lvii. Poem by Michelangelo Buonarroti
Lvii.
FIRST READING.
CARNAL AND SPIRITUAL LOVE.
Passa per gli occhi.
Swift through the eyes unto the heart within
All lovely forms that thrall our spirit stray;
So smooth and broad and open is the way
That thousands and not hundreds enter in.
Burdened with scruples and weighed down with sin,
These mortal beauties fill me with dismay;
Nor find I one that doth not strive to stay
My soul on transient joy, or lets me win
The heaven I yearn for. Lo, when erring love-
Who fills the world, howe'er his power we shun,
Else were the world a grave and we undone-
Assails the soul, if grace refuse to fan
Our purged desires and make them soar above,
What grief it were to have been born a man!
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4/19/2024 1:19:30 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Michelangelo Buonarroti - Rime 276. Passa per gli occhi al core in un momento Passa per gli occhi al core in un momento qualunche obbietto di beltà lor sia, e per sì larga e sì capace via c’a mille non si chiude, non c’a cento, d’ogni età, d’ogni sesso; ond’io pavento,5 carco d’affanni, e più di gelosia; né fra sì vari volti so qual sia c’anzi morte mi die ’ntero contento. S’un ardente desir mortal bellezza ferma del tutto, non discese insieme10 dal ciel con l’alma; è dunche umana voglia. Ma se pass’oltre, Amor, tuo nome sprezza, c’altro die cerca; e di quel più non teme c’a lato vien contr’a sì bassa spoglia.