Duchess
I dare do anything
So that you are beside me.
Guido
Ah! There it is,
I cannot be beside you, cannot breathe
The air you breathe; I cannot any more
Stand face to face with beauty, which unnerves
My shaking heart, and makes my desperate hand
Fail of its purpose. Let me go hence, I pray;
Forget you ever looked upon me.
Duchess
What!
With your hot kisses fresh upon my lips
Forget the vows of love you made to me?
Guido
I take them back.
Duchess
Alas, you cannot, Guido,
For they are part of nature now; the air
Is tremulous with their music, and outside
The little birds sing sweeter for those vows.