Part one: To Florence: She who was so precious to you -- This grand book the universe -- Bright stars speak of your virtues -- To have the truth seen and recognized -- In the very face of the sun -- Observant executrix of God's commands -- Malice of my persecutors -- Conjecture here among shadows -- Part two: On Bellosguardo: How our father is favored -- To busy myself in your service -- What we require above all else -- Because of our zeal -- Through my memory of their eloquence -- Small and trifling body -- On the right path, by the grace of God -- Tempest of our many torments -- Part three: In Rome: While seeking to immortalize your fame -- Since the Lord chastises us with those whips -- Hope of having you always near -- That I should be begged to publish such a work -- Part four: In care of the Tuscan Embassy, Villa Medici, Rome: How anxiously I live, awaiting word from you -- In the chambers of the Holy Office of the Inquisition -- Vainglorious ambition, pure ignorance, and inadvertence -- Faith vested in the miraculous Madonna of Impruneta -- Judgment passed on your book and your person -- Part five: At Siena: Not knowing how to refuse him the keys -- Terrible destruction on the feast of San Lorenzo -- Recitation of the penitential psalms -- Book of life, or, a prophet accepted in his own land -- Part six: From Arcetri: My soul and its longing -- Until I have this from your lips -- As I struggle to understand -- Memory of the sweetnesses.