If you, my Dante (this I pray
You much), see Love with Lapo near,
Take heed, and then if Love you hear
Call Lapo lover, write and say;—
And tell me, if his lady’s sway
Seem kind, and he in guise appear
Of gallant, since such folk, I fear,
When tired of work, at loving play!
You know, when in his court Love reigns
No one can serve, but he who’s true,
A lady who is wandering there;—
And if his patience favour gains,
The marks of that are known to you,
Your style, and mine, the emblems bear.
Guido Cavalcanti (1255–1300)
Translated by Warburton Pike
Source: The Sonnets of Europe, ed. by Samuel Waddington. Walter Scott, 1888
Lapo is Lapo Gianni, a contemporary poet to Dante and Cavalcanti; Lapo's "Love" was Lady Lagia. She figures in several poems written by this trio of poets.
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