Poems (Craik)/Beatrice to Dante
EGARD me well: I am thy love, thy love;Thy blessing, thy delight, thy hope, thy peace: Thy joy above all joys that break and cease When their full waves in widest circles move: Thy bird of comfort, thine eternal dove, Whom thou didst send out of thy mournful breast To flutter back and point thee to thy rest: Thine angel, who forgets her crown star-wove To come to thee with folded woman-hands Pleading,—"Look on me, Beatrice, who stands Before thee; by the Triune Light divine Undazzled, still beholds thy human face, And is more happy in this happy place That thou alone art hers and she is thine."
I.BEATRICE TO DANTE.
"Guardami ben. Ben son, ben son."[1]
EGARD me well: I am thy love, thy love;Thy blessing, thy delight, thy hope, thy peace: Thy joy above all joys that break and cease When their full waves in widest circles move: Thy bird of comfort, thine eternal dove, Whom thou didst send out of thy mournful breast To flutter back and point thee to thy rest: Thine angel, who forgets her crown star-wove To come to thee with folded woman-hands Pleading,—"Look on me, Beatrice, who stands Before thee; by the Triune Light divine Undazzled, still beholds thy human face, And is more happy in this happy place That thou alone art hers and she is thine."- ↑ Suggested by a statue of Beatrice, bearing this motto.