VII. Sonnet [“Upon a day, came Sorrow in to…

on the 9th of June 1290

Upon a day, came Sorrow in to me,

Saying, "I’ve come to stay with thee a while;"

And I perceived that she had usher'd Bile

And Pain into my house for company.

Wherefore I said, "Go forth—away with thee!"

But like a Greek she answer'd, full of guile,

And went on arguing in an easy style.

Then, looking, I saw Love come silently,

Habited in black raiment, smooth and new,

Having a black hat set upon his hair;

And certainly the tears he shed were true.

So that I ask'd, "What ails thee, trifler?"

Answering he said: "A grief to be gone through;

For our own lady’s dying, brother dear."

Copyright Credit: Dante Alighieri, “VII. Sonnet" from The Early Italian Poets: Together with Dante's Vita Nuova. Translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. London: J. M. Dent and Co., 1861. Public domain.

Source: The Early Italian Poets: Together with Dante's Vita Nuova ( J. M. Dent and Co., 1861)