TOO much good luck no less than misery
May kill a man condemned to mortal pain,
If, lost to hope and chilled in every vein,
A sudden pardon comes to set him free.
Thus thy unwonted kindness shown to me
Amid the gloom where only sad thoughts reign,
With too much rapture bringing light again,
Threatens my life more than that agony.
Good news and bad may bear the self-same knife;
And death may follow both upon their flight;
For hearts that shrink or swell, alike will break.
Let then thy beauty, to preserve my life,
Temper the source of this supreme delight,
Lest joy so poignant slay a soul so weak.
(Michelangelo Buonarroti)
More Poetry from Michelangelo Buonarroti:
Michelangelo Buonarroti Poems based on Topics: Soul, Death & Dying, Life, Beauty, Light, Man, Sadness, Pain, Anger- V. to giovanni da pistoja. (Michelangelo Buonarroti Poems)
- Xlv. _love feeds the flame of age._ (Michelangelo Buonarroti Poems)
- Vi. _invective against the people of pistoja._ (Michelangelo Buonarroti Poems)
- On The Painting Of The Sistine Chapel (Michelangelo Buonarroti Poems)
- Lxviii. to monsignor lodovico beccadelli. (Michelangelo Buonarroti Poems)
- Lxix. waiting for death. (Michelangelo Buonarroti Poems)