“Sicche vegga il mondo, quando la Fortuna vuol torre a assassinare un uomo, quante diverse vie la piglia.”
"Let the world then take notice, when Fortune has the will to ruin a man, how many divers ways she takes!"—(J. A. Symonds.)
“Siccome al cane in guardia posto all’ orto,
Che non mangia i poponi, e non consente
Che altri ne mangi, ogni uomo gli da torto.”
“Like dog that in the garden keepeth ward,
Eating no melons, but allowing none
To eat thereof, he is of all abhorred.”
“Voi siete come il can del Ortolano;
Non mangia, e non ne vuol lasciar mangiare.”
“Ye may be likened to the gardener’s dog,
That eateth not, nor letteth others eat.”
“Siccome il non poter avere le cose desiderate moltiplica l’appetito,
cosi lo averne poi copia suole generare fastidio.”
“Just as being unable to have the things we desire multiplies our appetite,
so the having them in abundance generates satiety.”
“Simile è la ragione a un lento foco,
Che con attivita senza fracasso
Tutto purge e depura appoco, appoco.”
“Like a slow fire that worketh quietly,
Yet all unceasing, so by slow degrees
Doth reason all things cleanse and purify.”
“So ben, ch’ in tutto il gran femmineo stuolo
Una non 6, che stia contenta a un solo.”
“Of all the sex, this certain truth is known,
No woman yet was e’er content with one."—(Hoole.)
“So com’ Amor saetta, e come vola;
E so com’ or minaccia, ed or percote;
Come ruba per forza, e com’ invola;
E come sono instabili sue rote;
Le speranze dubbiose, e 'l dolor certo
Sue promesse di fe come son vote.”
Petearca. Trionfo d’Amore, III, 175.
“I know full well how swift Love’s arrows fly.
How now he threats, now pierces through and through,
Now steals by force, and now by strategy.
Full soon he turns our gladness into rue.
Fleeting his joys, naught lasting but the pain,
And vain his promise of fidelity.”
