| Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893. | | | | Translations | From the Italian.
The Nature of Love |
| | By Guido Guinizelli
To noble heart Love doth for shelter fly, | |
| As seeks the bird the forest’s leafy shade; | |
| Love was not felt till noble heart beat high, | |
| Nor before love the noble heart was made. | |
| Soon as the sun’s broad flame | 5 |
| Was formed, so soon the clear light filled the air; | |
| Yet was not till he came: | |
| So love springs up in noble breasts, and there | |
| Has its appointed space, | |
| As heat in the bright flames finds its allotted place. | 10 |
| Kindles in noble heart the fire of love, | |
| As hidden virtue in the precious stone: | |
| This virtue comes not from the stars above, | |
| Till round it the ennobling sun has shone; | |
| But when his powerful blaze | 15 |
| Has drawn forth what was vile, the stars impart | |
| Strange virtue in their rays; | |
| And thus when Nature doth create the heart | |
| Noble and pure and high, | |
| Like virtue from the star, love comes from woman’s eye. | 20 | | | |
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