O anima cecata
The Blinded Soul
The soul is rebuked for its spiritual blindness and lack of fear toward God.
O blinded soul, who finds no rest: you are hated by God for your vicious life. You have lost Jesus Christ, your Bridegroom. I don't ask for help, or peace, or mercy.1 Alas, alas, alas! There's no fear of God.
Signs of Impending Judgment
The soul is warned of divine judgment through the signs of war, famine, and plague.
You feel a thousand signs at Prato and at Bibona: and because you won't deign to believe anyone, your mind is prone to every vice. Here is the punishment that soon comes to you.2 Alas, and so on.3 I saw Italy at war, and the great famine; God unleashed the plague, and he spreads his judgment: these are the fare of your life, blind and lost through your little faith.45 Alas, and so on.6
The Foolish Pursuit of Vanity
The soul is chided for ignoring prophetic warnings in favor of worldly pleasures.
Astrologers and prophets, learned and holy men, and wise preachers have all foretold your tears; you chase after music and songs because you're foolish, and wrapped in vices, there's no virtue in you. Alas, and so on.7
Ingratitude for Divine Grace
The soul is confronted with its ingratitude despite the many graces and gifts bestowed by God.
Oh!8 A thousand graces and gifts God has granted you, and great good thoughts have come into your heart: how many divine helps! But you, ungrateful one, are stubborn, and you're sunk in sloth.9 Alas, and so it goes.10
A Call to Conversion
The soul is urged to turn toward Jesus and the Virgin Mary to escape its wretched state.
Turn to Jesus Christ and to his merciful Mother; leave behind your wretched habits and your evil way.11 The Virgin Mary, full of grace, never tires of praying to God for you. Alas, and so on.12
Read the original Latin
O anima cecata, Che non trovi riposo, Tu se’ da Dio odiata Pel tuo viver vizioso: Iesù Cristo, tuo sposo, Tu hai perduto. Non chiedo aiuto, Nè pace, nè mercè. Omè omè omè! Timor de Dio non c’è.
Tu senti mille segni A Prato e a Bibona: E perchè tu non degni Di credere a persona, La mente tua è prona A ogni vizio: Ecco el supplizio, Che presto vene a te. Omè, ec.
Vidi l’Italia in guera, E la carestia grande; La peste Idio dissera, E suo iudicio espande: Queste son le vivande De la tua vita, Cieca e smarita Per la tua poca fè. Omè, ec.
Astrologi e profeti, Omini dotti e santi, Predicator discreti, T’han preditti i tuo’ pianti: Tu cerchi soni e canti, Perchè sei stolta; Nei vizii involta, In te virtù non è. Omè, ec.
De! mille grazie e doni Che Dio t’ha conceduti, E gran pensieri boni Nel cor ti son venuti: Quanti divini aiuti! Ma tu, ingrata, Sei obstinata, E ne l’accidia se’. Omè, ec.
Ricori a Iesù Cristo, Et a la Madre pia; Lassa el costume tristo E la tua mala via. La Vergine Maria, Piena di grazia, Mai non si sazia Pregar Idio per te. Omè, ec.
Notes
- 1 ↩First-person refusal may be the soul's hard voice of despair, not a narrator's request; kept as direct speech of refusal.
- 2 ↩«senti» can mean feel, hear, or perceive; rendered as feel for present awareness of portents. «Bibona» kept as in the source (likely a Tuscan place-name form).
- 3 ↩«ec.» is the printed abbreviation for the refrain (cf. SavLaud.1.2.1.s3 «Omè omè omè!»).
- 4 ↩Archaic/poetic form, taken as from diserrare ('to open, unbolt, let loose'): God released the plague. Parallel present 'espande' supports an active divine agency reading rather than a passive report.
- 5 ↩Literally 'foods/dishes'; rendered 'fare' to keep the bitter irony that war, famine, and plague are what this blinded soul lives on.
- 6 ↩Refrain cue: Omè ('Alas') plus ec. for eccetera, pointing back to the lauda's fixed lament refrain rather than new content.
- 7 ↩Omè, ec. is the chapter's abbreviated lament refrain (Omè + eccetera), not a full new line of sense.
- 8 ↩Source De! is read as the Italian poetic interjection Deh (Oh/Ah), not the preposition de.
- 9 ↩accidia is the capital vice of spiritual sloth (acedia); rendered as 'sloth' for plain modern English while keeping the moral force.
- 10 ↩Omè, ec. is the lauda's refrain shorthand (Omè, eccetera), matching the same refrain in neighboring sections.
- 11 ↩Ricori is taken as ricorri (‘have recourse / turn for help’), not mere mental recollection; costume tristo as entrenched bad habit/way of life.
- 12 ↩Omè, ec. is a refrain abbreviation (etc.): the full lament-burden is presumed known from the lauda’s recurring close.
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