Giambattista Marino (1569–1625)

Translated by Baroness von Gilsa

WHERE shadowy wreaths of floating vapour ’bide,

Buried in floods of unapproachëd light,

In clouds of silence folded out of sight,

Eternal wisdom doth her treasures hide;

And whoso with rash hand would draw aside

Her veil, and read her laws, his vain and slight

And human mind is crushed, and dazzled quite

By lightning flash and thunder rolling wide.

O thou invisible Sun, who from our gaze,

In that abyss of light no eye hath scann’d,

That glory veilest with thine own bright rays,

Shine thou on me where poor and blind I stand,

And let my dark night blossom to thy praise,—

I know thee most when least I understand.