Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Introductory | | To Italy | | Giovanni Guidiccioni (1480–1541) |
| | Anonymous translation
FROM ignominious sleep, where age on age | |
| Thy torpid faculties have slumbering lain, | |
| Mine Italy, enslaved, ay, more, insane,— | |
| Wake, and behold thy wounds with noble rage! | |
| Rouse, and with generous energy engage | 5 |
| Once more thy long-lost freedom to obtain; | |
| The path of honor yet once more regain, | |
| And leave no blot upon my country’s page! | |
| Thy haughty lords, who trample o’er thee now, | |
| Have worn the yoke which bows to earth thy neck, | 10 |
| And graced thy triumphs in thy days of fame. | |
| Alas! thine own most deadly foe art thou, | |
| Unhappy land! thy spoils the invader deck, | |
| While self-wrought chains thine infamy proclaim! | | | | |
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