Part one: To Florence: She who was so precious to you
This grand book the universe
Bright stars speak of your virtues
To have the truth seen and recognized
In the very face of the sun
Observant executrix of God's commands
Conjecture here among shadows
Part two: On Bellosguardo: How our father is favored
To busy myself in your service
What we require above all else
Through my memory of their eloquence
On the right path, by the grace of God
Tempest of our many torments
Part three: In Rome: While seeking to immortalize your fame
Since the Lord chastises us with those whips
Hope of having you always near
That I should be begged to publish such a work
Part four: In care of the Tuscan Embassy, Villa Medici, Rome: How anxiously I live, awaiting word from you
In the chambers of the Holy Office of the Inquisition
Vainglorious ambition, pure ignorance, and inadvertence
Faith vested in the miraculous Madonna of Impruneta
Judgment passed on your book and your person
Part five: At Siena: Not knowing how to refuse him the keys
Terrible destruction on the feast of San Lorenzo
Recitation of the penitential psalms
Book of life, or, a prophet accepted in his own land
Part six: From Arcetri: My soul and its longing
Until I have this from your lips
As I struggle to understand
Memory of the sweetnesses.
