“… I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body…”
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From 100 Love Sonnets. Translated by Stephen Tapscott (UT Press, 1986).