Arts & Sciences

Sonnet Of Michel Angelo Buonaroti

by Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803–1882

From Quatrains and Translations

Arts & Sciences

Never did sculptor's dream unfold
A form which marble doth not hold
In its white block; yet it therein shall find
Only the hand secure and bold
Which still obeys the mind.
So hide in thee, thou heavenly dame,
The ill I shun, the good I claim;
I alas! not well alive,
Miss the aim whereto I strive.
Not love, nor beauty's pride,
Nor Fortune, nor thy coldness, can I chide,
If, whilst within thy heart abide
Both death and pity, my unequal skill
Fails of the life, but draws the death and ill.

✦ ✦ ✦

Translated by Emerson from Michelangelo Buonarroti

MLA

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Sonnet Of Michel Angelo Buonaroti.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/emerson/208/.

Chicago

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Sonnet Of Michel Angelo Buonaroti.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/emerson/208/.

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