Lope de Vega, No sabe qué es amor quien no te ama

Rimas sacras, Soneto XLVI
No sabe qué es amor quien no te ama,
celestial hermosura, esposo bello;
tu cabeza es de oro, y tu cabello
como el cogollo que la palma enrama.

Tu boca como lirio que derrama
licor al alba; de marfil tu cuello;
tu mano el torno y en su palma el sello
que el alma por disfraz jacintos llama.

¡Ay, Dios!, ¿en qué pensé cuando, dejando
tanta belleza y las mortales viendo,
perdí lo que pudiera estar gozando?

Mas si del tiempo que perdí me ofendo,
tal prisa me daré, que una hora amando
venza los años que pasé fingiendo.

Sacred Poems, Sonnet #XLVI
He knows not what love is who doesn't love you,
oh, celestial beauty, bridegroom fair;
your head is of pure gold, your flowing hair
like crowns that palm fronds cover totally;

your mouth is like a lily, from which spills
sweet liquor at dawn; ivory your neck;
your hand the wheel, and on its palm the seal,
which souls call hyacinths for secrecy.

My God, what thought I when, leaving behind
such beauty, and just mortal grace could see,
I lost what might have been my greatest joy?

But if the time I've lost disturbs me now,
I shall make haste, so that one hour of love
the years I've spent pretending will destroy.

                     (©Alix Ingber, 1995)

LINK TO COMMENTARY

By David Caro Bragado: Extensive analysis (in Spanish), of the play of sacred and profane elements. The author describes his work as follows: "This essay is a part of a class research under the direction of professors Isabel Colón and Álvaro Alonso from Departamento II de Filología Hispánica (Literatura) de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid. The research is about how Lope de Vega composed three different sonnets (religious, love, burlesque) using the same vocabulary. The general title is "Un enamorado y tres hermosuras (Dios, la amada de las Rimas Humanas y la lavandera de Tomé de Burguillos)".

E-mail your comments and questions to:

Alix Ingber
Professor of Spanish
Sweet Briar College

ingber@sbc.edu

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