after Pietro Buonaccorsi, called Perino del Vaga
Italian, 1501-1547

late 16th century

Art Institute of Chicago

Though seen to be carefree beyond measure,

I am as wretched as I’ve been in years,

Your gentle words, yes, still give me pleasure

When they fall so cruelly upon my ears:

And I take great pains that a sense adhere

To our long conversings over time.

But when I race to the goal of my desire,

Your wishes, now elsewhere inclined,

Explain why, in my tormented course,

Daphne, you flee me, Apollo on fire.

— Maurice Sceve/Translated by Richard Sieburth