And come to thee—­a slave to his lord—­
     I’d pay thee homage with eyes that mourn,
     Until thy mercy I’d implored,
     Heedless of laughter, heedless of scorn.

Raimon of Miraval had said, “I am no lover, I am a worshipper,” and
Cavalcanti: 

     My lady’s virtue has my blindness riven,
     A secret sighing thrills my humbled heart: 
     When favoured with a sight of her thou art,
     Thy soul will spread its wings and soar to heaven.

Peire Vidal: 

     God called the women close to Him,
     Because he saw all good in them.

And: 

     The God of righteousness endowed
     So well thy body and thy mind
     That His own radiancy grew blind. 
     And many a soul that has not bowed
     To Him for years in sin enmeshed,
     Is by thy grace and charm refreshed.

The beauty of the adored was divine.  Bernart of Ventadour wrote: 

     Her glorious beauty sheds a brilliant ray
     On darkest night and dims the brightest day.

Guilhem of Cabestaing: 

     God has created her without a blemish
     Of His own beauty.

Gaucelm Faidit: 

     The beauty which is God Himself
     He poured into a single being.

And Montanhagol, anticipating Dante: 

     Wherefore I tell you, and my words are true,
     From heaven came her beauty, rare and tender,
     Her loveliness was wrought in Paradise,
     Men’s dazzled eyes can scarce support her splendour.

Folquet of Romans: 

     When I behold her beauty rare,
     I’m so confused and startled by her worth,
     I ween I am no longer on this earth.

A canzone which has been attributed to Cavalcanti, Cino da Pistoia and
Dante, reads as follows: 

     My lady comes and ev’ry lip is silent;
     So perfect is her beauty’s high estate
     That mortal spirit swoons and falls prostrate
     Before her glory.  And she is so noble: 
     If I uplift to her my inward eye,
     My soul is startled as if death were nigh.

Cavalcanti says: 

     Round you are flowers, is the tender green,
     The sun is not as bright as your dear face,
     All nature in her glorious summer-sheen
     Has not so fair and beautiful a place,
     It pales beside you.  Earth has never seen
     A thing so full of loveliness and grace.

The perfection which the mere presence of the beloved was supposed to bestow on the lover, is here conceived more broadly and freely; not only the lover, but all men are touched and transfigured by her appearance.  The sentiment of the lover aspired to become objective truth.  This was an important stage on the road from the spiritual to the deifying love, which I have called metaphysical eroticism.  Another rung of the ladder of evolution had been climbed—­the mistress had become queen of the world and goddess, a being enthroned by the side of God.  I will again quote Guinicelli: