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The Heavens strew down among us on earth cherished wonders, the planets and stars looked down kindly upon his birth: in the light cast by his shadow we glimpsed their power, and I saw through him how light suddenly scatters the darkness around us, oh, you spirits who've written so nobly, sweetly, honored him in books of rare poetry, no matter what your subject, your verses figure forth a vast and bright inner life derived from God's divine power and light. If mortal finite beauty's brief warmth so compels you, how will you be roused by the infinite light of eternal gardens. |
An image of the Italian text from Visconti's 1840 edition |
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Notes: From V CXII:112 ((a number of variants, including the first line: "Quante virtuti qui fra noi comparte;" I have taken into account the 12th: "Che se poca mortal luce finita").. See also B A2:23:67; R IIII:17. I have chosen to place VC's five poems which seem to be directed at a friend or friends but have no sense of any specific interlocutor and which are intensely hopeful at the close of her sequence. They form an appropriate epilogue. Key |
