All laws, both human and divine, have bound,
Irrevocably bound us. Those bright charms
Which won thee, my Giovanni, were effaced,
At first, by sickness, by despair, by grief;
And, with returning health, my earliest care
Was to despoil my person of all power
To tempt the lawless libertine I served.
Too soon my pains were needless; thou, even thou,
Hast turned with loathing from the form which once
Thou gazed upon with rapturous delight,
Hung o'er enamoured, like the wooing bee
Floating in air above the blushing rose.
Giovanni.
Forgive me, lost Rosmunda, oh, forgive me!
Unhappy victim of a cruel fate,
Thy bitter cup of sorrow is not drained:
The dregs remain; and I, even I, am doomed
To add to thy misfortune: that strong oath
I swore to thee must be revoked; new ties,
New duties bind me: show thyself supreme
