Even if Heaven wills and destines,
my divine sun,
that I live in darkness,
hear, my soul divine,
what amid so much suffering
the cold and trembling tongue
of a disconsolate lover
is able to repeat.
O light and hope of the heart,
hear the voice in extremis:
hear it, and may at least a tear
bathe the living snow
of that beautiful bosom.
See, ah! how nimbly
along its eternal path
the day hastens and how near
it glows, the unlucky day
that will drive me far
from your lovely eyes.
Ah! with a slower hand Phoebus
would whip his ardent steeds
if those beloved fronds
of tresses gold and blond
were to turn toward your lament.
O vain, foolish thought!
Alas, what do I hope or wish for,
life of my  life,
when beating its wings
the fatal hour of bitter parting
already draws near!
Not to you do I say farewell,
for if I leave my soul and heart, 
my only treasure,
and with my cherished hope
my every wish abides,
then to myself I say farewell:
to myself, sad and alone,
prey to undying grief;
and parting from my weary self
I wend my way.
Eyes, you that beheld
the radiance so fair
of celestial beauty
while I burned and froze,
to you, trembling and mute,
to you I call for help:
tell, eyes, tell in her presence,
tell in infinite tears
of the pangs harsh
and bitter, for I
would not know how to relate
even the smallest part
of so much suffering:
I shall only say, here departs
the most loyal lover
that ever set foot
in the amorous realm;
that you see him enchained
in a snare more worthy
than was ever devised by Love
in ages past;
that for chaste beauty
he fashioned such fine laments
that the sea, earth and winds
sighed them,
and the heavens, veiled with tears,
pitying his sighs,
scattered holy sapphires;
further I could say
that dawn never saw herself
reflected in a sea more beautiful,
nor the love-star either
but it was dim and paltry
after the gentle ardor blazed
from those sparkling eyes,
a marvel
that gazing upon it I fly
across the clouds and earth's poles.
But ah! serene eyes,
sweetest comfort
to my dear pains,
who would lead me into port
on this crazy sea
if I were far from you?
For oh! with fear in my heart
I see my weary vessel
surrounded by storm and turbulence,
I sigh in vain for a ray
of celestial light
from the stars I loved so much!
But what is this fear that stabs me?
To what distant place could I go
where I would lose that sweet light?
What mountain, what river,
what sea could ever eclipse me
so that my heart, soul and thoughts
were not in my sun,
when hidden deep within my heart
I hold the light and the dread
of those haughty beams?
My legs may carry me
(Love, grant me faith!)
away from you, my goddess,
they may indeed depart; but my soul
freed of its heavy burden
will fly back
-- O sweetest dwelling-place --
to its beautiful heaven.