REPLY OF GUIDO CAVALCANTI

by: Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)

      hou hast beheld all power, meseems, and worth,
      All joy and every good that man can know,
      If thou hast proved the virtue of that lord
      Who sovereign o'er the world of honour rules;
      For he delights to live where troubles die,
      And with a mind compassionate is just;
      So softly o'er the fancy steals in sleep,
      That hearts he bears away without a pang.
      Your heart he bore away, for he perceived
      That to your lady Death was laying claim;
      And fearing this, sustained her with that heart.
      When he appeared to go his way in grief,
      Sweet was the dream, for then it fully told
      That sorrow's opposite was conquering.y

"Reply of Guido Cavalcanti" is reprinted from The Lyrical Poems of Dante Alighieri. Translated by Charles Lyell. London: William Smith, 1845.

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