Gaspara Stampa Fire Poems
- 1. Rime 08
If I, who am an abject, low-born woman,
Can bear within me such lofty fire,
Why should I not possess at least a little
Poetic power to tell it to the world?
... - 2. I Swear To You, Love, By Your Arrows
I swear to you, Love, by your arrows,
And by your powerful holy flame,
I care not if by one Iâ??m maimed,
My heart burned, wasted by the other:
... - 3. O All My Labours Scattered Uselessly
O all my labours scattered uselessly
O, all my useless scattered sighs,
O loyalty, that never, O living fire,
Chilled or burned others so, if I see truly,
... - 4. Rime 208
Love made me such that I live in fire
like a new salamander on earth
or like that other rare creature, the Phoenix,
who expires and rises at the same time
...
