I was so long abased and full of woes,
because base Love still held me in its thrall,
that people, sick and healthy, were dismayed
at sight of one by illness so deform'd.
It soon became my lot to walk apart,
as those around me shunned my cursed face.
And in this plight what gave me most relief
was to gorge on thoughts of my unlucky state.

Then, all at once, I found myself restored,
and all my ills turned suddenly to joy;
everyone who saw my new-found health

stood half-wondering and half-aggrieved,
like those who saw the blind man healed by Christ
astonished to see that he could see.