SONNETS. I. TO THE NIGHTINGALE. O NIGHTINGALE, that on yon bloomy spray Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still; Thou with fresh hope the lover's heart dost fill, While the jolly Hours lead on propitious May. Thy liquid notes that close the eye of day, First heard before the shallow cuckoo's bill, Portend success in love; O, if Jove's will Have link'd that amorous power to thy soft lay, Now timely sing, ere the rude bird of hate Fortell my hopeless doom in some grove nigh; As thou from year to year has sung too late For my relief, yet hadst no reason why: Whether the Muse, or Love, call thee his mate, Both them I serve, and of their train am I. II. DONNA leggiadra, il cui bel nome honora De sui atti soavi giamai parco, E i don', che son d'amor saette ed arco, Quando tu vaga parli, o lieta canti III. QUAL in colle aspro, al imbrunir di sera Va bagnando l'herbetta strana e bella Cosi Amor meco insù la lingua snella Desta il fior novo di strania favella, Mentre io di te, vezzosamente altera, Canto, dal mio buon popol non inteso E'l bel Tamigi cangio col bel Arno. Amor lo volse, ed io a l'altrui peso Seppi ch' Amor cosa mai volse indarno. Deh! foss'il mio cuor lento e'l duro seno A chi pianta dal ciel si buon terreno. CANZONE. RIDONSI donne e giovani amorosi M' accostandosi attorno, e perche scrivi, Altri lidi t'aspettan, ed altre onde Spuntati ad hor, ad hor a la tua chioma Canzon dirotti, e tu per me rispondi Dice mia Donna, e 'l suo dir, é il mio cuore Questa e lingua di cui si vanta Amore. IV. DIODATI, e te 'l dirò con maraviglia, Gia caddi, ov❜ huom dabben talhor s' impiglia. Ne treccie d'oro, ne guancia vermiglia M'abbaglian sì, ma sotto nova idea fuoco PER certo i bei vostr' occhi, Donna mia Da quel lato si spinge ove mi duole, Scosso mi il petto, e poi n' uscendo poco VI. GIOVANE piano, e semplicetto amante De pensieri leggiadro, accorto, e buono ; Di timori, e speranze, al popol use, E di cetra sonora, e delle muse : VII. ON HIS BEING ARRIVED AT THE AGE OF TWENTY THREE. How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th. 1 Cowper has very elegantly translated these sonnets. Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth, And inward ripeness doth much less appear, It shall be still in strictest measure even To that same lot, however mean or high, Toward which Time leads me, and the Will of Heaven ; All is, if I have grace to use it so, As ever in my great Task-Master's eye. VIII. WHEN THE ASSAULT WAS INTENDED TO THE CITY. CAPTAIN, or Colonel, or Knight in arms, Whose chance on these defenceless doors may seize, Guard them, and him within protect from harms. To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare. ''Assault:' by Charles I., in 1642.-2 Conquerour : ' Alexander the Great. 'Repeated :' When Lysander took Athens, it was proposed to raze the city entirely; but a Phocian repeated some lines of Euripides which induced him to modify his sentence. |