Petrarch,
Canzoniere — Poem XIX
(14th century)
“ Son animali al mondo di si altera HE COMPARES HIMSELF TO A MOTH. Creatures there are in life of such keen sight That no defence they need from noonday sun, And others dazzled by excess of light Who issue not abroad till day is done, And, with weak fondness, some because 'tis bright, Who in the death-flame for enjoyment run, Thus proving theirs a different virtue quite-- Alas! of this last kind myself am one ”
