LOVE’S BONDMAN

Great joy it were to me to join the throng
…That thy celestial throne, O Lord, surround,
…Where perfect peace and pardon shall be found,
…Peace for good doings, pardon for the wrong;
Great joy to hear the vault of heaven prolong
…That everlasting trumpet’s mighty sound,
…That shall to each award their final bound,
…Wailing to these, to those the blissful song.
All this, dear Lord, were welcome to my soul,
…For on his brow then every one shall bear
…Inscribed, what late was hidden in the heart;
And round my forehead wreath’d a lettered scroll
…Shall in this tenor my sad fate declare:
…“Love’s bondman, I from him might never part.”

-Fra Guittone d’Arezzo (c. 1235–1294)
……Translated by Henry Francis Cary