Page from Latin version of Euclid's
Elements by Campanus of Novara
published by Erhard Ratdolt (1482)
Sonnet III: Parallel Lines
Our souls in lines together quickly go,
apart and parallel; they never touch
but singly go about all things. And such
they ne’er are bound, and fill my heart with woe.
A subtle shift in either course will throw
our paths apart, if one wrongly misjudg’d,
or otherwise, a single tiny budge
could make us meet but once then part unknown.
No other soul shall be the match to mine,
No woman shall suffice for me but she,
But I lay here in wait, afraid and stunned,
E’er drowning fear in wanton girls and wine,
E’er fearing that my wish will never be,
E’er wishing our twin souls were made to one.
