No doubt I have made errors in transliteration, but here is a lovely piece by the Italian poet Petronilla Paolini Massimi (1663-1728), as translated by Muriel Kittal (line breaks mine):
Sdenga Clorinda a i femminili uffici chinar la destra, e sotta l'elmo accoglie i biondi crini e con guerrieri voglie fa del proprio valor pompa a i nemici.
Così gli alti natali e i lieti auspici e gli aur'ei tetti e le regali spoglie nulla curando, Amalasunta coglie de' fecondi Licei lauri felici. Mente capace d'ogni nobil cura ha il nostra sesso: or qual potente inganno dall'imprese d'onor l'alme ne fura? so ben che i fati a noi guerra non fanno, Né i suoi doni contende a noi natura: sol del nostro valor l'uomore é tiranno. | To female duties Clorinda scorned to turn her hand, and beneath her helmet gathered her blond tresses and with warlike arms displayed her worth to enemies.
Likewise for lofty birth and joyful auspices, for golden palaces and royal regalia caring no whit, Amalasuntha won felicitous laurels from Athens' fruitful schools. An apt mind for every noble care our sex possesses: so what mighty fraud diverts our souls from deeds of honor? I well know the fates war not with us, Nor does Nature to us deny her gifts: the sole oppressor of our worth is man. |
And... some context for the above:
Massimi, married by force to a man 30 years her senior in 1673, escaped to a convent sometime around 1695, where she began writing poetry and librettos.
Clorinda is from Massimi's work on Tancredi and Clorinda, a Christian knight and a Saracen warrior maid (from the 1581 poem by Tasso).
Amalasuntha, Queen of the Ostrogoths 526 to 535, was known for her extensive knowledge and reading, which included fluency in Latin, Greek and Gothic. In addition, she was a student of philosophy and was said to possess the wisdom of Solomon.