| Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888. | | | | The Fugitive | | By Philippe Desportes (1546–1606) |
| | Translated by Samuel Waddington
L’Amour Fugitif
THIS little child, young Love so blind, | |
| His mother seeks him gone astray; | |
| And as she seeks him she may find, | |
| Hid in my heart, the runaway. | |
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| Betwixt the twain there’s to my mind | 5 |
| No little danger in delay;— | |
| The mother’s dangerous I’ve divined, | |
| And dangerous is the child they say. | |
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| He, if retained, will scorch my heart, | |
| And if I bid him thence depart, | 10 |
| He still to me will cruel prove:— | |
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| Nay, in my heart, child, shalt thou stay; | |
| Yet closer would I fold thee, Love, | |
| So nestling burn less fierce, I pray. | | | | |
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