Sonnet LXIII – The Constancy of Divine Love, the Inconstancy of Human Love
A translation into English of Soneto LXIII - Firmezas del divino amor, inconstancias del amor humano, a soneto by Soror Violante do Céu. Translation by Valerie Hegstrom.
Translator's note: In this translation, I have sought to convey the meanings, rhyme, and meter in the source text. Additionally, I have attempted to maintain chiasmus and anaphora.
Translation
What a love so different from the human kind
is that which you have for me, my King divine,
for you gain nothing from loving me so fine,
so fine only because of the gain I find.
A love with a tyrant's attributes designed,
not a love that renders all off'rings benign,
is all that I owe to this mistake of mine,
whose weight with its caprice has perhaps aligned.
He may love me well, but not that I well be,
he who diverts me from loving you alone,
he who would prefer to harm me than help me.
Who can doubt that his love is tyranny's own?
Because of my wellness that your love o'ersees,
my soul is now obliged to your love alone.