DANTE TRANSLATIONS

DANTE TRANSLATIONS Little sparks may ignite great Infernos.—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch In Beatrice I beheld the outer boundaries of blessedness.—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch She made my veins and even the pulses within them tremble.—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Her sweetness left me intoxicated.—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Love commands me by determining my desires.—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Follow your own path and let the bystanders gossip.—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch The devil is not as dark as depicted.—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch There is no greater sorrow than to recall how we delighted in our own wretchedness.—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch As he, who with heaving lungs escaped the suffocating sea, turns to regard its perilous waters.—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch O human race, born to soar heavenward, why do you nosedive in the mildest breeze?—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch O human race, born to soar heavenward, why do you quail at the least breath of wind?—Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Midway through my life’s journey I awoke to find myself lost in a trackless wood, for I had strayed far from the straight path. —Dante, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch INSCRIPTION ON THE GATE OF HELL Before me nothing existed, to fear. Eternal I am, and eternal I endure. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. —Dante, loose translation by Michael R. Burch Sonnet: “A Vision of Love” or “Love’s Faithful Ones” from LA VITA NUOVA by Dante Alighieri loose translation by Michael R. Burch To every gentle heart true Love may move, And unto whom my words must now be brought For wise interpretation’s tender thought, I greet you in our Lord's name, which is Love. Through night’s last watch, as winking stars, above, Kept their high vigil over men, distraught, Love came to me, with such dark terrors fraught As mortals may not casually speak of. Love seemed a being of pure Joy and held My heart, pulsating. On his other arm My lady, wrapped in thinnest gossamers, slept. He, having roused her from her sleep, then made My heart her feast—devoured, with alarm. Love then departed; as he left, he wept.