Guido, i’ vorrei che tu Lapo ed io

Guido, I wish that Lapo, thou, and I,
Could be by spells conveyed, as it were now,
Upon a barque, with all the winds that blow
Across all seas at our good will to hie.
So no mischance nor temper of the sky
Should mar our course with spite or cruel slip;
But we, observing old companionship,
To be companions still should long thereby.
And Lady Joan, and Lady Beatrice,
And her the thirtieth on my roll, with us
Should our good wizard set, o’er seas to move
And not to talk of anything but love:
And they three ever to be well at ease,
As we should be, I think, if this were thus.

Nella serie di dipinti che Dante G. Rossetti consacrò ai versi dell’Alighieri, v’è The Boat of Love, un’opera suggerita dal sonetto che Dante rivolse a Guido Cavalcanti. A sinistra, l’immagine è accompagnata dalla traduzione rossettiana.