59r

[rubric: Luna.]

¶ La luna e tra pianeti el piu sottano
E che piu tardi compie sua giornata
Suo cielo e transparente diafano
Come sum li altri unde non e celata
La vista si che si raguardi in vano
Per tute in sino a la spera stellata
Perche ha dilecto remirar in quelle
Chiar pianeti e relucente stelle

[rubric: Obscuracion del solle.]

¶ Ma lo suo corpo Io dico de la luna
Perche e solido e denso e non transpare
Quand'ella s'interpone in parte alcuna
Tra'l sole e noi per linea rita et uguale
Sotto i suo raggi ci si monstra bruna
E a noi non gli lassa trapassare
E a le impresse e quando l'e compiuta
De vechia in nova in quel puncto si muta

[rubric: Varacion de la luna.]

¶ Sença lume da se mutata scura
Quanta ne vede il sole tanta n'acende
Per questo e variabil sua figura
Perche tra su e giu meça resplende
E quanto -e- piu distante sua misura
Dal sole tanto ogni di piu lume rende
Sopra a la terra e quando si repressa
Ogni di scema suo lume da epsa

[image, right margin at ¶ 1: Pen-drawn diagram of a circle within a circle representing an eclipse. Area between inner circle and outer circle partially tinted blue in bottom half of diagram, and partially tinted yellow in top half of diagram. Positioned between circles, at 12 o’clock: a blue crescent moon. Positioned external to circles, at 12 o’clock: a sun in splendour, tinted yellow. At centre of diagram: a small sphere tinted grey. Two straight lines radiate from small grey sphere, intersecting outermost circle between 11 and 12 o’clock, and between 12 and 1 o’clock. Between these lines, two additional straight lines radiate from small grey sphere to innermost circle; area between additional straight lines tinted grey.]

[image, right margin at ¶ 3: Pen-drawn diagram of a circle within a circle representing the phases of the moon. Area between inner circle and outer circle partially tinted blue in bottom half of diagram, and partially tinted yellow in top half of diagram. Positioned external to circles, at 12 o’clock: a sun in splendour, tinted yellow. At centre of diagram: a small sphere, labelled with black ink, and tinted half yellow and half grey (label: Terra). Inner circle bisects three further spheres, located at 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and at 10 o’clock, each tinted half yellow and half grey. Yellow halves of all four spheres face towards sun in splendour.]

The Moon

¶ The moon is the closest of all the planets
and it finishes its day very late.
Its sphere is transparent and diaphanous,
as are the others,^{1ie. the spheres of the other planets} the view of which is unobstructed.
And so, you will not be looking in vain
all the way up to the fixed stars ^{2this is the translation of the celestial sphere}
because you can take pleasure in gazing up at those
bright planets and shining stars.

Obscuring of the Sun

However its body—I speak of the moon—
is solid, dense, and not transparent.
And therefore, when it interposes itself anywhere
along a straight and even line between the sun and us,
it appears dark to us, blocking [the sun's] rays
and does not allow them to pass through to us.
When this eclipse [>>"eclissi"] is completed
is the point when it [the moon] changes from old to new.^{3It is unclear why Dati connects the solar eclipse to the phases of the moon, as in the next stanza}

Phases of the Moon

¶ Without light of its own, the amount [of the moon] that is dark changes,
so that it is illuminated according to how much it faces the sun.
For this reason, its shape is variable
because it shines halfway between what is above and below [the sun and the earth].
As the distance between it and the sun increases
each day, it casts more light
onto the earth: and then when it returns and gets closer
each day, the light from it wanes.

[rubric: Luna.]

¶ La luna e tra pianeti el piu sottano
E che piu tardi compie sua giornata
Suo cielo e transparente diafano
Come sum li altri unde non e celata
La vista si che si raguardi in vano
Per tute in sino a la spera stellata
Perche ha dilecto remirar in quelle
Chiar pianeti e relucente stelle

[rubric: Obscuracion del solle.]

¶ Ma lo suo corpo Io dico de la luna
Perche e solido e denso e non transpare
Quand'ella s'interpone in parte alcuna
Tra'l sole e noi per linea rita et uguale
Sotto i suo raggi ci si monstra bruna
E a noi non gli lassa trapassare
E a le impresse e quando l'e compiuta
De vechia in nova in quel puncto si muta

[rubric: Varacion de la luna.]

¶ Sença lume da se mutata scura
Quanta ne vede il sole tanta n'acende
Per questo e variabil sua figura
Perche tra su e giu meça resplende
E quanto -e- piu distante sua misura
Dal sole tanto ogni di piu lume rende
Sopra a la terra e quando si repressa
Ogni di scema suo lume da epsa

[image, right margin at ¶ 1: Pen-drawn diagram of a circle within a circle representing an eclipse. Area between inner circle and outer circle partially tinted blue in bottom half of diagram, and partially tinted yellow in top half of diagram. Positioned between circles, at 12 o’clock: a blue crescent moon. Positioned external to circles, at 12 o’clock: a sun in splendour, tinted yellow. At centre of diagram: a small sphere tinted grey. Two straight lines radiate from small grey sphere, intersecting outermost circle between 11 and 12 o’clock, and between 12 and 1 o’clock. Between these lines, two additional straight lines radiate from small grey sphere to innermost circle; area between additional straight lines tinted grey.]

[image, right margin at ¶ 3: Pen-drawn diagram of a circle within a circle representing the phases of the moon. Area between inner circle and outer circle partially tinted blue in bottom half of diagram, and partially tinted yellow in top half of diagram. Positioned external to circles, at 12 o’clock: a sun in splendour, tinted yellow. At centre of diagram: a small sphere, labelled with black ink, and tinted half yellow and half grey (label: Terra). Inner circle bisects three further spheres, located at 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and at 10 o’clock, each tinted half yellow and half grey. Yellow halves of all four spheres face towards sun in splendour.]

The Moon

¶ The moon is the closest of all the planets
and it finishes its day very late.
Its sphere is transparent and diaphanous,
as are the others,^{1ie. the spheres of the other planets} the view of which is unobstructed.
And so, you will not be looking in vain
all the way up to the fixed stars ^{2this is the translation of the celestial sphere}
because you can take pleasure in gazing up at those
bright planets and shining stars.

Obscuring of the Sun

However its body—I speak of the moon—
is solid, dense, and not transparent.
And therefore, when it interposes itself anywhere
along a straight and even line between the sun and us,
it appears dark to us, blocking [the sun's] rays
and does not allow them to pass through to us.
When this eclipse [>>"eclissi"] is completed
is the point when it [the moon] changes from old to new.^{3It is unclear why Dati connects the solar eclipse to the phases of the moon, as in the next stanza}

Phases of the Moon

¶ Without light of its own, the amount [of the moon] that is dark changes,
so that it is illuminated according to how much it faces the sun.
For this reason, its [the moon's] shape is variable
since it shines halfway between down and up [of the celestial spheres].
And the further its distance is
From the sun, it sheds so much more light each day
Onto the earth: and as it returns
each day, the light from it wanes.