lines discovered on the bark of a tree, addressed to dulcinea del toboso.
Ye lofty trees, with spreading arms, The pride and shelter of the plain; Ye humble shrubs and flowery charms, Which here in springing glory reign! If my complaints may pity move, Hear the sad story of my love! While with me here you pass your hours, Should you grow faded with my cares, I'll bribe you with refreshing showers; You shall be watered with my tears. Distant, though present in idea, I mourn my absent Dulcinea Del Toboso.
Love's truest slave, despairing, chose This lonely wild, this desert plain, This silent witness of the woes Which he, though guiltless, must sustain. Unknowing why these pains he bears, He groans, he raves, and he despairs. With lingering fires Love racks my soul: In vain I grieve, in vain lament; Like tortured fiends I weep, I howl, And burn, yet never can repent. Distant, though present in idea, I mourn my absent Dulcinea Del Toboso.
While I through Honor's thorny ways, In search of distant glory rove, Malignant fate my toil repays With endless woes and hopeless love. Thus I on barren rocks despair, And curse my stars, yet bless my fair. Love, armed with snakes, has left his dart, And now does like a fury rave; And scourge and sting on every part, And into madness lash his slave. Distant, though present in idea, I mourn my absent Dulcinea Del Toboso.
When the stars are adverse, what is human power?
Who is there in the world that can boast of having fathomed and thoroughly penetrated the intricate and ever-changing nature of a woman?
What causes all my grief and pain? Cruel disdain. What aggravates my misery? Accursed jealousy. How has my soul its patience lost? By tedious absence crossed. Alas! no balsam can be found To heal the grief of such a wound. When absence, jealousy, and scorn Have left me hopeless and forlorn.