Will

“As soon as that majestic force,
which had already pierced me once
before I had outgrown my childhood, struck my eyes,

I turned to my left with the confidence
a child has running to his mamma
when he is afraid or in distress

to say to Virgil: 'Not a single drop of blood
remains in me that does not tremble--
I know the signs of the ancient flame.'

But Virgil had departed, leaving us bereft:
Virgil, sweetest of fathers,
Virgil, to whom I gave myself for my salvation.

And not all our ancient mother lost
could save my cheeks, washed in the dew,
from being stained again with tears.”
― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, Volume 2: Purgatorio

“And if you ask how I regret that parting?
It is like the flowers falling at spring’s end,
confused, whirled in a tangle.
What is the use of talking! And there is no end of talking—
There is no end of things in the heart.”
― Ezra Pound, Cathay

“What is the greatest wonder in the world?
That, every single day, people die,
Yet the living think they are immortal.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“the Love that moves the sun and all the other stars.”
― Dante Alighieri, Paradise