| Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888. | | | | To Dante | | By Guido Cavalcanti (1255–1300) |
| | Translated by Percy Bysshe Shelley
RETURNING from its daily quest, my Spirit | |
| Changed thoughts and vile in thee doth weep to find: | |
| It grieves me that thy mild and gentle mind | |
| Those ample virtues which it did inherit, | |
| Has lost. Once thou didst loathe the multitude | 5 |
| Of blind and madding men: I then loved thee— | |
| I loved thy lofty songs, and that sweet mood | |
| When thou wert faithful to thyself and me. | |
| I dare not now, through thy degraded state, | |
| Own the delight thy strains inspire—in vain | 10 |
| I seek what once thou wert—we cannot meet | |
| As we were wont. Again, and yet again, | |
| Ponder my words: so the false Spirit shall fly, | |
| And leave to thee thy true integrity. | | | | |
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