Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
France: Vols. IX–X. 1876–79. | | | | Rhone, the River | | To the Rhone | | Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374) |
| | Translated by Susan Wallaston
O RAPID flood! which from thy mountain bed | |
| Gnawest thy shores, whence (in my tongue) thy name; | |
| Thou art my partner, night and day the same, | |
| Where I by love, thou art by nature led: | |
| Precede me now; no weariness doth shed | 5 |
| Its spell o’er thee, no sleep thy course can tame; | |
| Yet ere the ocean waves thy tribute claim, | |
| Pause, where the herb and air seem brighter fed. | |
| There beams our sun of life, whose genial ray | |
| With brighter verdure thy left shore adorns; | 10 |
| Perchance (vain hope!) e’en now my stay she mourns. | |
| Kiss then her foot, her lovely hand, and may | |
| Thy kiss to her in place of language speak, | |
| The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. | | | | |
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