Page:The Complete Poetical Works of John Milton.djvu/106

 POEMS WRITTEN IN ITALY

��Nor of those gifts (Love's arrows and his bow)

Wherewith thy virtue high enflowers it- self.

When thou speakest in thy beauty, or sing- est in thy joy

Sounds that might move the firm trees from the mountains

Let whoso finds himself unworthy of thy service

Guard well the gateway of his sight and hearing;

Grace from above avail him

Ere amorous desire lodge in his heart !

��SONNET

QUAL in colle aspro, all' imbrunir di sera, L' avezza giovinetta pastorella Va bagnando 1' erbetta strana e bella Che mal si spande a disusata spera

Fuor di sua uatia alma primavera, Cosl Amor meco insu la lingua snella Desta il fior novo di strania favella, Mentre io di te, vezzosamente altera,

Canto, dal mio buon popol non inteso, E '1 bel Tamigi cangio col bell' Arno. Amor lo volse, ed io all' altrui peso

Seppi ch' Amor cosa mai volse indarno. Deh ! foss' il mio cuor lento e '1 duro seno A chi piaiita dal ciel si buon terreno.

��TRANSLATION

As on a rough hillside, at dusk of evening, A little shepherd girl, as she is wont, Goes watering some fair flower that moves

her wonder,

A stranger in that clime, ill flourishing Far from the comfort of its native spring- time,

Even so doth Love upon my eager tongue Rear the new flower of a foreign speech, While I of thee, haughty and gracious one, Sing, of my own good folk not compre- hended,

And change fair Thames for the fair Arno. Love willed it, and at others' cost I learned that Love wills nought in vain. Ah, that my slow heart and rude breast

might be

As kind a soil to Him who plants from Heaven !

��CANZONE

RiDOXSl donne e giovani amorosi M' accostandosi attoruo, e " Perche scrivi, Perche tu scrivi in lingua ignota e straua Verseggiaudo d' amor, e come t' osi ? Dinne, se la tua speme sia mai vana, E de' pensieri lo miglior t' arrivi ! " Cosi mi van burlaudo: " Altri rivi, Altri lidi t' aspettau, ed altre onde, Nelle cui verdi sponde Spuntati ad or ad or alia tua chioma L' immortal guiderdou d' eterne frondi. Perche alle spalle tue soverchia soma ? "

Caiizon, dirotti, e tu per me rispondi: " Dice mia Donna, e '1 suo dir e il mio

cuore, ' Questa e lingua di cui si vanta Aniore.' "

TRANSLATION

THE ladies and young lovers laugh at me, Standing in circle round me, and " Why

write, Why write thus in a language strange, un-

mastered, Versifying of love ? How dost thou dare

it?

Speak, as thou wilt have thy hope not vain, And of thy thoughts the best betide thee ! " So they go mocking at me: " Other rivers, Other shores await thee, other waters, On whose green banks Now, even now, grows for thy hair The immortal guerdon of unfading fronds. Why on thy shoulders the superfluous

load ? " Canzone, I will tell thee, and do thou

make answer: " My Lady saith (and her speech is my

heart) ' This is Love's language, of which Love is

boastful.' "

��SONNET

DIODATI (e te '1 dir& con maraviglia), Quel ritroso io, ch' amor spreggiar solea E de' suoi lacci spesso mi ridea, Gia caddi, ov' uom dabben talor s' impig- lia.

Ne treccie d' oro ne guancia vermiglia M' abbaglian si, ma sotto nova idea

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