Love
Sonnet XL (second): Love's Loadstone
Translated by John Addington Symonds (1878) · From Sonnets (trans. Symonds, 1878)
I know not if it be the fancied light
Which every man or more or less doth feel;
Or if the mind and memory reveal
Some other beauty for the heart's delight;
Or if within the soul the vision bright
Of her celestial home once more doth steal,
Drawing our better thoughts with pure appeal
To the true Good above all mortal sight:
This light I long for and unguided seek;
This fire that burns my heart, I cannot find;
Nor know the way, though some one seems to lead.
This, since I saw thee, lady, makes me weak:
A bitter-sweet sways here and there my mind;
And sure I am thine eyes this mischief breed.
Cite this poem
MLA
Buonarroti, Michelangelo. “Sonnet XL (second): Love's Loadstone.” Translated by John Addington Symonds. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/michelangelo/42/.
Chicago
Buonarroti, Michelangelo. “Sonnet XL (second): Love's Loadstone.” Translated by John Addington Symonds. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/michelangelo/42/.
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