Betimes the idea flashed on my mind that I must disclose
to others the occasion of my transports, for surely,
I would reflect, it would be a delight to others to
hear of that which has brought such delight to me!
But thou, O Shame, on the one side, and thou, O Fear,
on the other, did hold me back: the one threatening
me with eternal infamy; the other with loss of that
which hostile Fortune was soon afterward to tear from
me. In such wise then, did I live for some time,
for it was then pleasing to Love that I should live
in this manner; and, in good sooth, so blithely and
joyously were these days spent that I had little cause
to envy any lady in the whole world, never imagining
that the delight wherewith my heart was filled to
overflowing, was to nourish the root and plant of my
future misery, as I now know to my fruitless and never-ending
sorrow.