Death & Dying

Vita Nuova: 'Woe’s me! by dint of all these sighs that come'

by Dante Alighieri 1265–1321

Translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1861; text of the Ellis and Elvey edition, 1899) · From La Vita Nuova

Death & Dying

Woe’s me! by dint of all these sighs that come
Forth of my heart, its endless grief to prove,
Mine eyes are conquered, so that even to move
Their lids for greeting is grown troublesome.
They wept so long that now they are grief’s home,
And count their tears all laughter far above:
They wept till they are circled now by Love
With a red circle in sign of martyrdom.
These musings, and the sighs they bring from me,
Are grown at last so constant and so sore
That love swoons in my spirit with faint breath;
Hearing in those sad sounds continually
The most sweet name that my dead lady bore,
With many grievous words touching her death.

MLA

Dante Alighieri. “Vita Nuova: 'Woe’s me! by dint of all these sighs that come'.” Translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/dante/28/.

Chicago

Dante Alighieri. “Vita Nuova: 'Woe’s me! by dint of all these sighs that come'.” Translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/dante/28/.

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