Li. First Reading. Poem by Michelangelo Buonarroti
Li. First Reading.
LOVE IN YOUTH AND AGE.
Tornami al tempo.
Bring back the time when blind desire ran free,
With bit and rein too loose to curb his flight;
Give back the buried face, once angel-bright,
That hides in earth all comely things from me;
Bring back those journeys ta'en so toilsomely,
So toilsome-slow to one whose hairs are white;
Those tears and flames that in one breast unite;
If thou wilt once more take thy fill of me!
Yet Love! Suppose it true that thou dost thrive
Only on bitter honey-dews of tears.
Small profit hast thou of a weak old man.
My soul that toward the other shore doth strive,
Wards off thy darts with shafts of holier fears;
And fire feeds ill on brands no breath can fan.
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4/19/2024 11:11:23 PM # 1.0.0.1119
Michelangelo Buonarroti - Rime 272. Tornami al tempo, allor che lenta e sciolta Tornami al tempo, allor che lenta e sciolta al cieco ardor m’era la briglia e ’l freno; rendimi il volto angelico e sereno onde fu seco ogni virtù sepolta, e ’ passi spessi e con fatica molta,5 che son sì lenti a chi è d’anni pieno; tornami l’acqua e ’l foco in mezzo ’l seno, se vuo’ di me saziarti un’altra volta. E s’egli è pur, Amor, che tu sol viva de’ dolci amari pianti de’ mortali,10 d’un vecchio stanco oma’ puo’ goder poco; ché l’alma, quasi giunta a l’altra riva, fa scudo a’ tuo di più pietosi strali: e d’un legn’arso fa vil pruova il foco.