ABSTRACT
That power that once moved the bold Orpheus to seek the house of Pluto, in the time when Pluto (moved perhaps by the sound of his sonorous lyre and by the notes of his song) returned the pursued Eurydice happily to him–although with conditions 1 –now compels my feeble talent, 0 Cytherea, to sing your praises and the powers of your kingdom. And so, for the lofty sky 2 in which you are goddess; for the light that makes you more beautiful than all others to whom Phoebus gives his light; for your Mars, 0 gracious star; for pious Aeneas; 3 and for the one who was the son of Myrrha his sister, 4 whom you loved more than any man in the world; for the might of your sacred fire in which I am ever and always have been inflamed; if long and happy dwelling be granted you behind the sign of the humble animal that deceived Europa with false game, 5 put voice in my breast to grow strong as it feels the force of your power, so that my speech may reveal more than the mere exterior shell of your deity, for so does my spirit strive and quicken. And I pray to you Cupid, by your gilded arrows and by the victory you took from Apollo, 6 and by the beloved nymphs (if any could ever boast of such glory as to have delighted your eyes, or to have a place in your memory as one beloved) that you spare and alleviate for a while the new flames infused by your bow in a heart that calls your name day and night. In this way I might feel relief from what I suffer in loving with such desire, so that no longer overcome by anguish and fear, I might more freely speak of what I learned with my eyes and ears. And you, creature more beautiful than all others, fair, charming, joyful and graceful, noble lady and angelic figure, to whom my loving soul lies subject in distress (and so glad to be thus that there are few other souls that have such joy), raise your voice and try the skies with your prayers; for they merit an answer, if truth is manifest in your lovely face. And pray so that this subject of your sublime beauty might fully speak of what he feels in his wounded breast.
