[Michelangelo Buonarotti, Giunto è già 'l corso della vita mia, “Rime”, 16th century.]
The course of my long life hath reached at last,
In fragile bark over a tempestuous sea,
The common harbor, where must rendered be
Account of all the actions of the past.
The impassioned fantasy, that, vague and vast,
Made art an idol and a king to me,
Was an illusion, and but vanity
Were the desires that lured me and harassed.
The dreams of love, that were so sweet of yore,
What are they now, when two deaths may be mine,—
One sure, and one forecasting its alarms?
Painting and sculpture satisfy no more
The soul now turning to the Love Divine,
That oped, to embrace us, on the cross its arms.
