IL SUCCESSOR DI CARLO,
............CHE LA CHIOMA ...		 CHARLEMAGNE’S SCION, WHOSE
......................HEAD IS ADORNED ...
Francesco Petrarcatr. A. S. Kline
Il successor di Carlo, che la chioma
co la corona del suo antiquo adorna,
prese a gia l'arme per fiacchar le corna
a Babilonia, et chi da lei si noma;

e 'l vicario de Cristo colla soma
de le chiavi et del manto al nido torna,
si che s'altro accidente nol distorna,
vedra Bologna, et poi la nobil Roma.

La mansueta vostra et gentil agna
abbatte i fieri lupi: et cosi vada
chiunque amor legitimo scompagna.

Consolate lei dunque ch'anchor bada,
et Roma che del suo sposo si lagna,
et per Jesu cingete ormai la spada.
 Charlemagne’s scion, whose head is adorned
with the royal crown of his ancestor,
has taken up arms to bring Babylon down
and all that take their name from her.

and the Vicar of Christ returns to the nest
with the mantle and the burdensome keys,
and if no further accident deters him,
he’ll reach Bologna, and then noble Rome.

That mild and gentle lamb of yours
destroys the fierce wolves: and so may it be
with all who shatter lawful alliances.

Console her then, you whom she waits for,
and Rome who still complains of her spouse,
and take up the sword now for Christ.
Notes: Philip VI of France proclaimed a crusade in 1333 against Islam, symbolised here by Babylon.
The Papacy is to return from Avignon to Rome.
The poem may be addressed to Orso dell’Anguillara.
Note: See Luke XV.7
Trans. Copyright © A. S. Kline 2003 







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