Sonnet LXXII. A Prayer for Aid - Michelangelo Buonarroti

Oh, make me see Thee, Lord, where'er I go!
      If mortal beauty sets my soul on fire,
      That flame when near to Thine must needs expire,
      And I with love of only Thee shall glow.
Dear Lord, Thy help I seek against this woe,
      These torments that my spirit vex and tire;
      Thou only with new strength canst re-inspire
      My will, my sense, my courage faint and low.
Thou gavest me on earth this soul divine;
      And Thou within this body weak and frail
      Didst prison it — how sadly there to live I
How can I make its lot less vile than mine?
      Without Thee, Lord, all goodness seems to fail.
      To alter fate is God's prerogative.

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Translated by John Addington Symonds
Source: The sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti, John Addington Symonds, T. B. Mosher, 1901