DISCOURTEOUS DEATH

by: Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)

      iscourteous Death! compassion's enemy,
      Of grief the parent old,
      O judgment, irresistible, severe,
      Since thou hast given a theme to this sad heart
      On which my thoughts still dwell,
      The tongue is wearied in upbraiding thee.
      And if to prayer thou wilt refuse all grace,
      'Tis just that I denounce
      Thy cruelty, of wrongful deeds most wrong;
      Not that it can be hidden from the world,
      But I would stir the wrath
      Of all whose nourishment henceforth is love.
      From this world thou hast driven fair courtesy,
      And virtue most in lady to be prized;
      In gaiety of youth
      Thou hast destroyed the gracefulness of love.
      More of this lady I will not disclose
      Than by her attributes may here be known:
      He who deserves not heaven,
      May never hope to have her company.

"Discourteous Death" is reprinted from The Lyrical Poems of Dante Alighieri. Translated by Charles Lyell. London: William Smith, 1845.

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