1. My beloved never saw the full moon appear
Without it hiding, veiling its luminosity.

2. It is too shy should he see it exposed,
Unveiling its glowing, blooming, tender charm.

3. And it is like me, pallid, lovesick,
As is the way for one who lives for nights awake.

4. So we are both lovers complaining of estrangement,
Who gaze at the stars as pillows for daybreak,

5. With the beauty of the earth his passion grows,
Yet she cannot give him even a fragment.

6. He has longed for ages to meet with her,
But she refuses in love anything but to glance.

7. For Plato inspired in her
A doctrine he instituted among mankind:

8. That love is only union and separation,
Not for plaints or rebukes or vigils.

9. A doctrine not so bad, for hearts
Of stone, like rocks,

10. Or for celestial spheres, lands, seas,
And ghosts of light, and images.

11. Not for the likes of me, endowed with finer senses,
Whose deepest feelings kindle sparks.

12. While love shows him paradise,
Patience exhausted, he wakes in hell.

13. How many, how many before me, martyred in passion,
Whose eyes by estrangement turned to traces.

14. Death hastened to them, approaching,
Or if too slow, by despair they perished.

15. So if you are not granted what you wish, oh heart,
Leave it, but is there any escape from love?

16. Love is compulsory, so do not blame
A madman, and let one of reason apologize.