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MONNA INNOMINATA.
5.

"Amor che a nullo amato amar perdona.—"Dante.
"Amor m'addusse in si gioiosa spene."—Petrarca.

O my heart's heart, and you who are to me
More than myself myself, God be with you,
Keep you in strong obedience leal and true
To Him whose noble service setteth free.
Give you all good we see or can foresee,
Make your joys many and your sorrows few,
Bless you in what you bear and what you do,
Yea, perfect you as He would have you be.
So much for you; but what for me, dear friend?
To love you without stint and all I can
To-day, to-morrow, world without an end;
  To love you much and yet to love you more,
  As Jordan at his flood sweeps either shore;
Since woman is the helpmeet made for man.


6.

"Or puoi la quantitate
Comprender de l'amor che a te mi scalda.—Dante.
"Non vo' che da tal nodo amor mi scioglia."—Petrarca.

Trust me, I have not earned your dear rebuke,
I love, as you would have me, God the most;
Would lose not Him, but you, must one be lost,
Nor with Lot's wife cast back a faithless look
Unready to forego what I forsook;