#first sonnet

First sonnet of Dante Alighieri’s “La Vita Nuova,” translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

This is me reading Dante Gabriel Rosetti’s stylized translation of “La Vita Nuova,” by Dante Alighieri.   To every heart which the sweet pain doth move, And unto which these words may now be brought For true interpretation and kind thought, Be greeting in our Lord’s name, which is Love. Of those long hours wherein the stars, above, Wake and keep watch, the third was almost nought, When Love was…

The world and all its people run and hide.

But when guardians of freedom too oft die

At hands of tyrants that so easily glide

O’er the consequence faced by common men,

And take up arms against our liberty

It’s no wonder souls hide within some den

Or abandon their shattered dreams and flee.

Yet ev’n when freedom’s crushed and joy seems lost

None can shackle spirits or bar the mind.

Freedom’s ne’er dead, not ev’n in holocaust

Nor is hope tattered. And in strife you’ll find

There’s a warrior in each one of us.

You don’t know it, but I look at the stars; Climbing the landscape’s mask of city lights, With the simple thought of you, from afar. Feels like looking into your eyes, so bright; Many they are, but irreparable, For they deteriorate, and burn out. But your brightness is incomparable; It shan’t ever burn out, without a doubt. My feelings for you, I hold day by day; I know not if your love for me still lives. Move on, move on with your life, they would say, But my eternal love will never give. I know our love can transcend forever; Don’t give up [on us], my love for you stops never.

Shoreline: The Mermaid’s Sonnet

Beautiful wonder, I confess my love, I confess, you and I, are not to be. So squander I do, like a wingless dove, I’m trapped in your cage, not let to be free.

I wish, i hope, that our destiny plays, Tunes of lovely souls and tunes of your grace. A love so pure, yet so wrong in its ways Your heart is my home, my one only place.

Angels from clouds dismiss this love so dead But i fear our future is cold and dry. I hate to leave while you lay in my head, I would hate to walk and say my goodbye.

Bright rays of light invade my mind Each wave more blinding that the last A warmth unknown to me is oh so kind But demons join, forcing me to my past

A happiness flooding within my soul And darkness hiding around the next bends A smile fills the never ending hole The demons struggle until bitter ends

The rays continue with gorgeous splendor Demons guard the path and obscure the light A fight relentless to reach the sender I push and claw and become each one's blight

I know why you ignore me now,

And I know why you love me too.

My image haunts your very thoughts,

But your thoughts have kept you going.

You hide your love and your loathing,

But I can still see it in you.

Why won’t you let me in, my love?

Does the hate keep you from going?

Or is it love that keeps you here?

There is nothing for us here now,

So why don’t we just escape this?

"I love you" escaped my cold lips

And it once was followed by yours.