In which she describes rationally the irrational effects of love
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

That my heart is suffering
from love pangs is plain,
but less clear by far
is the cause of its pain.

To make fancy come true
my heart strains
but, thwarting desire,
only gloom remains.

And when most I plead
and lament my plight,
though I see my sadness,
its cause escapes sight.

I yearn from the chance
to which I aspire,
yet when it impends,
I shrink from desire,
lest, sensing at hand
that longed-for day,
my misgivings spoil it,
fear drive it away.

And if, reassured,
I clasp it tight,
with the slightest pretext,
all pleasure takes flight.

My timid misgivings
turn boon into bane
and for love’s very sake,
I must show disdain.
*(Translated by Alan S. Trueblood)

En que escribe racionalmente los efectos irracionales del amor

Este amoroso tormento
que en mi corazón se ve,
se que lo siento y no se
la causa porque lo siento

Siento una grave agonía
por lograr un devaneo,
que empieza como deseo
y para en melancolía.

y cuando con mas terneza
mi infeliz estado lloro
se que estoy triste e ignoro
la causa de mi tristeza.

Siento un anhelo tirano
por la ocasión a que aspiro,
y cuando cerca la miro
yo misma aparto la mano.
Porque si acaso se ofrece,
después de tanto desvelo
la desazona el recelo
o el susto la desvanece.

Y si alguna vez sin susto
consigo tal posesión
cualquiera leve ocasión
me malogra todo el gusto.

Siento mal del mismo bien
con receloso temor
y me obliga el mismo amor
tal vez a mostrar desdén.

Source: Wikipedia

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a self-taught scholar and poet of the Baroque school, and Hieronymite nun of New Spain. Although she lived in a colonial era when Mexico was part of the Spanish Empire, she is considered today both a Mexican writer and a contributor to the Spanish Golden Age, and she stands at the beginning of the history of Mexican literature in the Spanish language.