[full size]Sigh, The Framecles, by Nicola Coco

Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare
la donna mia quand’ella altrui saluta,
ch’ogne lingua devèn tremando muta,
e li occhi no l’ardiscon di guardare.

Ella si va, sentendosi laudare,
benignamente d’umiltà vestuta;
e par che sia una cosa venuta
da cielo in terra a miracol mostrare.

Mostrasi sì piacente a chi la mira,
che dà per li occhi una dolcezza al core
che ‘ntender no la può chi no la prova:

e par che de la sua labbia si mova
un spirito soave pien d’amore,
che va dicendo a l’anima: Sospira.

So gentle and so dignified appears
my lady when she greets others,
that every trembling tongue becomes dumb,
and their eyes do not dare look upon her.

She walks on, hearing herself praised,
benignly clothed in humility;
and seems to be something arrived
from Heaven as a miracle on Earth.

She appears so pleasant to those who look upon her,
and through her eyes a sweetness touches the heart,
which cannot be understood by those who feel it not:

and it seems that from her lips emanates
a delicate spirit full of love,
that speaks to the soul: Sigh

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