Page:Sonnets and Ballate of Guido Cavalcanti.djvu/71

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Sonnets

SONNET XXI
THE DREAD SPIRIT

Thou mayest see, who seest me face to face,
That most dread spirit whom Love summoneth
To meet with man when a man meets with Death;
One never seen in any other case.
So dose upon me did this presence show
That I thought he would slay my heart his dolour
And my sad soul clad her in the dead colour
That most accords the will and ways of woe.
Then he restrained him, seeing in trae faith
The piteous lights forth-issue from your eyes
The which bore to my heart their foreign sweetness,
While the perceptive sense with subtle fleetness
Rescued those others[1] who had considered death
The one sure ending for their miseries.

  1. The senses or the spirits of the senses.

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