La Notte, che tu vedi in si dolci atti
Dormire, fu da un Angelo scolpita
In questo sasso, e perchè dorme ha vita;
Destala, se no'l credi, e parleratti.
The Night, that thou seest, so sweetly sleeping,
Was by an angel carved in the rude stone,
Sleeping, she lives, if thou believ'st it not,
Wake her, and surely she will answer thee.
The reply of Michael Angelo is in a much higher vein, and teaches us to look to a far different aim in his work than the mere form represented:—
Grato m'è 'l sonno e più l'esser di sasso;