Natura d'ogni cosa più possente. - Ludovico Ariosto

O bene o mal che la Fama ci apporti,
Signor, di sempre accrescere ha in usanza.

Not beauty, not nobility,
Not fortune will suffice to raise a wife
To highest honour and esteem if she
Neglects to lead a chaste and seemly life.

Whoever in a noble noose is caught,
Although his lady may but ill receive
His ardour and thus render him distraught,
And no reward for his devotion give,
Whence all his time and labour come to naught,
Yet, if his heart be worthily bestowed,
No lamentation to his grief is owed.