Those who live in quiet peace with God ought

Those who live in quiet peace with God ought
not hesitate before life's battle, ought
not share the world's anxieties--can frost
hurt those drawn into the warm light of truth,

embraced by God? This life's heavy burden
cannot crush the bold, swift, brilliant spirit
who flies apart, insults can't shame silence,
or hurt someone who prays more for those who

mistake and wander. It's useless to throw
darts at thick-walled stone towers built into,
emerging from rock which secures, resists

all, useless to spread traps cunningly in
this dark, lowering, stagnant air against
the soaring bird who passed into heaven.

An image of the Italian text from Visconti's 1840 edition
Notes:
From V XV:175. See also B S1:38:104; no MSs; Valgrisi 38. Translation: Lawley 62-63. According to Lawley (and others, e.g., Roland Bainton and the studies of the evangelicals and VC's Valdesian poetry), this sonnet is on Bernardino Ochino's final flight. Key

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