Michelangelo (1475–1564)

Translated by William Wordsworth

YES! hope may with my strong desire keep pace,

And I be undeluded, unbetrayed;

For if of our affections none find grace

In sight of Heaven, then wherefore hath God made

The world which we inhabit? Better plea

Love cannot have, than that in loving thee

Glory to that eternal peace is paid,

Who such divinity to thee imparts

As hallows and makes pure all gentle hearts.

His hope is treacherous only whose love dies

With beauty, which is varying every hour;

But, in chaste hearts uninfluenced by the power

Of outward change, there blooms a deathless flower,

That breathes on earth the air of paradise.