Love Poems 1

Lo meo servente core

Lo meo servente core
vi raccomandi Amor, [che] vi l’ha dato,
e Merzè d’altro lato
di me vi rechi alcuna rimembranza;
ché del vostro valore 5
avanti ch’io mi sia guari allungato,
mi tien già confortato
di ritornar la mia dolce speranza.
Deo, quanto fie poca addimoranza,
secondo il mio parvente! 10
ché mi volge sovente
la mente per mirar vostra sembianza:
per che ne lo meo gire e addimorando,
gentil mia donna, a voi mi raccomando.

May Love Ever Protect

May Love ever protect
this heart he gave to you, his to command,
and, on the other hand,
may Mercy beg you to remember me,
because before I go 5
too far away from all your present worth
the thought I will return
to you once more already comforts me.
God! Not for long shall I remain away,
judging by what I see, 10
for often this my mind
will turn right back to wonder on your face:
therefore, in both my journey and my stay,
O gentle lady, please remember me.

This is a stanza of a canzone beginning with a heptasyllable, rather than the usual hendecasyllable, a Guittonian technique, which Dante himself condemns in the De Vulgari (II,xii,6) as unsuitable for the tragic style. The theme is conventional: the poet is away from his beloved and requests to be remembered, hoping to return soon.