Sonnets
SONNET XXII
(To Dante, in answer to the first sonnet of the Vita Nuova.)
Thou sawest, it seems to me, all things availing,
And every joy that ever good man feeleth.
Thou wast in proof of that lord valorous
Who through sheer honour lords it o’er the world.
Thou livest in a place where baseness dieth,
And holdest reason in the piteous mind:
So gently move the people in this sleep
That the heart bears it ’thout the feel of grief.
Love bore away thy heart, because in his sight
Was Death grown clamorous for one thou lovest,
Love fed her with thy heart in dread of this,
Then, when it seemed to thee he left in sadness,
A dear dream was it which was there completed,
Seeing it contrary came conquering.
Note.–Dante, v. n. 111: “The true significance of the dream was not then seen by anyone.”
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