66v

¶ Ma se la vora vivere cum ragione
E governare el corpo cum mesura
Secondo la divina ispiratione
In cosse basse pora puoco cura
Ne beni eterni fia la sua intentione
Perche nel mondo niuna cossa dura
E sopra tute queste cosse in cielo
Volando andara cum amoroso çelo

[rubric: beni temporali.]

¶ Queste cosse composte corruptibile
Che non posson durare e crescer tanto
Ch'empian la voglia egli animi sensibili
Con gran faticha se ne aquista alquanto
Et con tremor li tiene che sum fluxibile
E poi li lassa cum dolor e pianto
Che vede ben cio ch'elle sano fare
Puoco vora per epse a faticare

¶ Elle ci son prestate per nostro uxo
Son facte e poste sotto el nostro piede
Chi non a l'ochio de la mente obtuso
Li pregia tanto quanto se richiede
Ma s'enton a se arai el cor confuso
Fia come quel che a pie del scuro scende
Che per vil cossa che summa pacia
Se priva de la sua gran signoria

But if the soul wants to live by reason
and rule the body with measure
according to divine inspiration,
it [=the soul] will care little for trivial matters.
It will fix its attention on eternal goods
since nothing in the world lasts forever.
Above all these things, it will go flying
to the heavens with loving zeal.

Worldly Goods

These impure corruptible things
—that cannot last and are never enough
to sate the cravings of sensitive souls^{1This is the technical aristotilian term indicating the part of the soul characterized by movement and sensation}—
are acquired in abundance with great toil.
We clutch ahold of them, but they are fleeting
and slip from our grasp, leading to sorrow and tears.
Whomever sees them for what they are
will not trouble himself with them.

These things are loaned to us for our use:
they are made, and laid at our feet.
Those who do not have an obscured view
appreciate them on their merits.
But if your heart is befuddled by them,
it would be like sitting at the feet of your servant.
For such vanities, it would be great madness
to deprive yourself of your own sovereignty.^{2Our translation of lines 25-28 follows the alternate reading from the printed text. It reads as follows: "ma s'entro a esse arai lo cor confuso / fie come quello ch'a pie del seruo siede / E per vil cosa ch'è somma pazzia / Si priva della sua gran Signoria." However, our manuscript, as transcribed at left, suggests the following translation of the last four lines of this stanza: "But if within you, your heart is befuddled / it will be like one who descends into darkness / as a vain thing which is a great madness / he deprives himself of his own control."}

¶ Ma se la vora vivere cum ragione
E governare el corpo cum mesura
Secondo la divina ispiratione
In cosse basse pora puoco cura
Ne beni eterni fia la sua intentione
Perche nel mondo niuna cossa dura
E sopra tute queste cosse in cielo
Volando andara cum amoroso çelo

[rubric: beni temporali.]

¶ Queste cosse composte corruptibile
Che non posson durare e crescer tanto
Ch'empian la voglia egli animi sensibili
Con gran faticha se ne aquista alquanto
Et con tremor li tiene che sum fluxibile
E poi li lassa cum dolor e pianto
Che vede ben cio ch'elle sano fare
Puoco vora per epse a faticare

¶ Elle ci son prestate per nostro uxo
Son facte e poste sotto el nostro piede
Chi non a l'ochio de la mente obtuso
Li pregia tanto quanto se richiede
Ma s'enton a se arai el cor confuso
Fia come quel che a pie del scuro scende
Che per vil cossa che summa pacia
Se priva de la sua gran signoria

But if the soul wants to live by reason
and rule the body with measure
according to divine inspiration,
it [=the soul] will care little for trivial matters.
It will fix its attention on eternal goods
since nothing in the world lasts forever.
Above all these things, it will go flying
to the heavens with loving zeal.

Worldly Goods

These impure corruptible things
—that cannot last and are never enough
to sate the cravings of sensitive souls^{1This is the technical aristotilian term indicating the part of the soul characterized by movement and sensation}—
are acquired in abundance with great toil.
We clutch ahold of them, but they are fleeting
and slip from our grasp, leading to sorrow and tears.
Whomever sees them for what they are
will not trouble himself with them.

These things are loaned to us for our use:
they are made, and laid at our feet.
Those who do not have an obscured view
appreciate them on their merits.
But if your heart is befuddled by them,
it would be like sitting at the feet of your servant.
For such vanities, it would be great madness
to deprive yourself of your own sovereignty.^{2Our translation of lines 25-28 follows the alternate reading from the printed text. It reads as follows: "ma s'entro a esse arai lo cor confuso / fie come quello ch'a pie del seruo siede / E per vil cosa ch'è somma pazzia / Si priva della sua gran Signoria." However, our manuscript, as transcribed at left, suggests the following translation of the last four lines of this stanza: "But if within you, your heart is befuddled / it will be like one who descends into darkness / as a vain thing which is a great madness / he deprives himself of his own control."}