Love

Sonnet XX: The Garland and the Girdle

by Michelangelo Buonarroti 1475–1564

Translated by John Addington Symonds (1878) · From Sonnets (trans. Symonds, 1878)

Love

What joy hath yon glad wreath of flowers that is
Around her golden hair so deftly twined,
Each blossom pressing forward from behind,
As though to be the first her brows to kiss!
The livelong day her dress hath perfect bliss,
That now reveals her breast, now seems to bind:
And that fair woven net of gold refined
Rests on her cheek and throat in happiness!
Yet still more blissful seems to me the band
Gilt at the tips, so sweetly doth it ring
And clasp the bosom that it serves to lace:
Yea, and the belt to such as understand,
Bound round her waist, saith: here I'd ever cling.--
What would my arms do in that girdle's place?

MLA

Buonarroti, Michelangelo. “Sonnet XX: The Garland and the Girdle.” Translated by John Addington Symonds. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/michelangelo/20/.

Chicago

Buonarroti, Michelangelo. “Sonnet XX: The Garland and the Girdle.” Translated by John Addington Symonds. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/michelangelo/20/.

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