Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Introductory | | To Italy | | Luigi Alamanni (1495–1556) |
| | Anonymous translation
THANKS be to God, my feet are now addressed, | |
| Proud Italy, at least to visit thee, | |
| After six weary years, since destiny | |
| Forbids me in thy dear-loved lap to rest. | |
| With weeping eyes, with look and heart depressed, | 5 |
| Upon my natal soil I bend the knee, | |
| While hope and joy my troubled spirit flee, | |
| And anguish, rage, and terror fill my breast. | |
| I turn me, then, the snowy Alps to tread, | |
| And seek the Gaul, more kindly prompt to greet | 10 |
| The child of other lands, than thou art thine: | |
| Here, in these shady vales, mine old retreat, | |
| I lay, in solitude, mine aching head, | |
| Since Heaven decrees, and thou dost so incline. | | | | |
|
|
