Lovely erring thoughts charm the anxious heart Vaghi pensier, che all'affannato core
Lovely erring thoughts charm the anxious heart
They comfort an actual thirst for trust;
Fate, my active enemy, has taken
all I valued; only in you can I find

what's left of decency. Malicious Chance
and ungrateful lovers like to torment me,
see me self-destruct. You stand in their way;
by your side I can withstand pitiless

resentment. A sweetness not allowed?
Odd, despite, through them, you, I feel secure
in the midst of doubt and harsh bitterness

Your strength helped me hold my head high
while humiliated. And though I fear
retaliation I remain unrepentent

Vaghi pensier, che all'affannato core
Conforto sete e sue fidate scorte,
Poi ch'ogni ben mi tol nemica sorte
A voi del viver mio resta l'onore:

Potran ben ria fortuna, e ingrato amore
A suo piacer darmi tormento e morte,
Ma non potran giā far ch'io non sia forte
(Mercč di voi) a l'empio suo furore.

Chč a malgrado di lor, dolci pensieri,
Da voi vita ricevo, e per voi passo
Sicura i pių dubbiosi aspri sentieri;

Per voi tengo alto il mio stato sė basso,
Nč i colpi d'ambi dui temo sė fieri,
Nč di seguir l'alta mia impresa lasso.

Sources:

From Pungileone (1827 edition), II:28; cf. 1995 Bullock 30:89-90; Bullock, "Per una Edizione Critica della Rime di Veronica Gāmbara", pp. 104-5. For Key see A Note on the Italian texts .

Comments:

I have placed this poem among those Gāmbara wrote after her husband's death and just as it occurs in the series presented by Pungileonte: that is, between the same two poems: Di quel fido pensier, che mi conduce and Quando fia mai quel di felice tanto. In this poem Gāmbara stands out against the reaction of her court and others to her unconventional behavior. Bullock prints an alternate text, disagrees with earlier readings and conclusions about this and other texts attributed to Gāmbara; he sees the poem as registering Gāmbara's grief for her husband's death. See 1995 Bullock pp. 89-90n.
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