Sonnet 233
How fortunate I was there came to be
from one of two all-time most lovely eyes,
as I observed them dim and agonize,
this faltering and dismal energy.
After I broke my fast of scrutiny 5
of her, the only person who I prize,
harsh Love and Heaven chose to compromise
once I combined all graces granted me,
for out of her right eye—sun on the right,
I mean—to my right eye, there came one day
disease without distress, only delight,
and, with its wings and its insightful way,
it flew through sky, a comet in the night,
and Piety and Nature did not stray.
Sonnet 236
Love, I make errors, and I see my erring,
but act like someone with his heart on fire,
for torment grows, and logic starts to tire
and nearly gives up while my pain is flaring.
To keep her calm, fair features from despairing, 5
I used to rein in my inflamed desire;
those reins once in my grip, you now acquire,
and my despondent soul becomes more daring,
yet if it goes beyond my expectation,
you who inflame and goad, they are your actions 10
that send her down rugged roads toward salvation—
and more so with her rare, divine attractions.
Now make her see, at least, the situation,
and then forgive herself for my infractions.
Excerpted from Canzoniere: A New Translation. Copyright (c) 2026 by A.M. Juster. Used with permission of the publisher, Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
