Love

Sonnet XXX: Love the Light-Giver

by Michelangelo Buonarroti 1475–1564

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

Love

With your fair eyes a charming light I see,
For which my own blind eyes would peer in vain;
Stayed by your feet the burden I sustain
Which my lame feet find all too strong for me;
Wingless upon your pinions forth I fly;
Heavenward your spirit stirreth me to strain;
E'en as you will, I blush and blanch again,
Freeze in the sun, burn 'neath a frosty sky.
Your will includes and is the lord of mine;
Life to my thoughts within your heart is given;
My words begin to breathe upon your breath:
Like to the moon am I, that cannot shine
Alone; for lo! our eyes see nought in heaven
Save what the living sun illumineth.

MLA

Buonarroti, Michelangelo. “Sonnet XXX: Love the Light-Giver.” Translated by John Addington Symonds. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/michelangelo/30/.

Chicago

Buonarroti, Michelangelo. “Sonnet XXX: Love the Light-Giver.” Translated by John Addington Symonds. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/michelangelo/30/.

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