Translated by A. Z. Foreman - Poem XLVI: Voyage of Love or d**h lyrics

The power of sails and winds shall work my wish, Setting a chancy course across the sea. Ponente and Mistral rise to resist. Levante and Sirocco fight for me Backed by their allies Midi and Gregal Beseeching the North Mountain Wind to turn Its storms aside in their support, so all Five winds may blow the way of my return. The sea shall seethe like boiling ca**erole, Change colors, taking on unnatural form, Showing its ill will at full blast to all That stray on it one second in that storm. The fish will panic all throughout the sea And seek out secret shelter in the deep, Till from the sea that gave them life they flee To their d**hs on dry land with desperate leap. The pilgrim pa**engers aboard my ship Will call on God, pledge votive gifts in tears, And fear force every secret from their lips That never fell on a confessor's ears. Through those dangers, you will not leave my mind. Before the God that joined us two I swear Nothing shall weaken this resolve of mine, And you'll be with me always, everywhere. I fear d**h - lest it break my heart from yours, For d**h can cancel love out with its still, Not that I think even d**h's severing force Could overcome my strength of loving will. I wish I could believe your love for me Would not leave me forgotten when I die, And though while we two live this could not be One thought makes all life's pleasure out a lie: That on the day I died, your love as well Would die, and be transformed to hate that night. While I, cast from this world, would feel full Hell Never again to hold you in my sight. Oh God, if only there were bounds to love So I at love's extreme might stand apart! I'd face the future without fear or hope Knowing the cutoff limit of your heart. I am the most extreme of all in love Save those who've breathed in love their life's last breath. The anguish of my heart I cannot prove Without the good faith agony of d**h. For good or ill at love's command I wait Though Fortune still withholds my fate from me. She'll find the gates unbarred, and me awake, Prepared to humbly follow her decree. Getting what I so wish may cost me dear Yet this alone consoles the soul in strife: If it turns out my fate is what I fear I only ask that God not spare my life. For then people will see the outward fact Of love at work within, needing no faith. Capacity will be revealed in act, And my words' credit backed by deed of d**h. Envoi: Love! I who feel you don't know you at all, And so can only win the loser's prize. No one who knows you is within your thrall. Your simile: addictive game of dice.