(English translation)

He who, most ungrateful, leaves me, I belove;

And he who, devoted, wants me, I dare leave.

Thus, I constantly adore who makes me grieve;

I aggrieve who, ever constant, offers love.

When I offer my love, a diamond hardens;

And a diamond I am to sweet affection.

Great victory I want for cruel rejection,

And I kill he who fills, with mirth, my gardens.

If I’m kind to one, I waste my fierce desire;

If I beg love, I compromise my glory.

In either way, in despair my life I mire.

And yet, I choose to live the better story

By being, to one unloved, the raging fire

Than to a scornful heart, a nonsense hoary.

Author

by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz