“No man can know by whom he's truly loved
When high on Fortune's wheel he sits, serene.
His friends surround him, true and false, unproved,
And the same loyalty in all is seen.
When to catastrophe the wheel is moved
The crowd of flatterers passes from the scene;
But he who loves his lord with all his heart
Remains, nor after death does he depart.”

Alcun non può saper da chi sia amato,
Quando felice in su la ruota siede:
Però c'ha i veri e i finti amici a lato,
Che mostran tutti una medesma fede.
Se poi si cangia in tristo il lieto stato,
Volta la turba adulatrice il piede;
E quel che di cor ama riman forte,
Ed ama il suo signor dopo la morte.
Canto XIX, stanza 1 (tr. B. Reynolds)
Orlando Furioso (1532)

Original

Alcun non può saper da chi sia amato | Quando felice in su la ruota siede; | Però c'ha i veri e i finti amici a lato, | Che mostran tutti una medesma fede. | Se poi si cangia in tristo il lieto stato, | Volta la turba adulatrice il piede; | E quel che di cor ama, riman forte, | Et ama il suo Signor dopo la morte.

XIX, 1
Orlando furioso
Variant: Alcun non può saper da chi sia amato,
Quando felice in su la ruota siede:
Però c'ha i veri e i finti amici a lato,
Che mostran tutti una medesma fede.
Se poi si cangia in tristo il lieto stato,
Volta la turba adulatrice il piede;
E quel che di cor ama riman forte,
Ed ama il suo signor dopo la morte.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Ludovico Ariosto 97
Italian poet 1474–1533

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