Elegiac sonnets. Volume 1 of 2  contents   |   previous   |   next SONNET XVII. FROM THE THIRTEENTH CANTATA OF METASTASIO. ON thy grey bark, in witness of my flame, [Note:] SONNET XVII. Line 1. Scrivo in te l'amato nome Di colei, per cui, mo moro. This is not meant as a translation; the original is much longer, and full of images, which could not be introduced in a Sonnet. And some of them, though very beautiful in the Italian, would not appear to advantage in an English dress.          I carve Miranda's cypher Beauteous tree! Grac'd with the lovely letters of her name,          Henceforth be sacred, to my love and me! Tho' the tall elm, the oak, and darker pine,          With broader arms, may noon's fierce ardors break, To shelter me, and her I love, be thine;          And thine to see her smile and hear her speak. No bird, ill omen'd, round thy graceful head          Shall clamour harsh, or wave his heavy wing. But fern and flowers arise beneath thy shad,          Where the wild bees, their lullabies shall sing. And in thy boughs the murmuring Ring-dove rest; And there the Nightingale shall build her nest.  contents   |   previous   |   next		HOME INTRODUCTION