| Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888. | | | | Oft by My Faithful Mirror | | By Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374) |
| | Translated by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Dicemi spesso il mio fidato speglio
OFT by my faithful mirror I am told, | |
| And by my mind outworn and altered brow, | |
| My earthly powers impaired and weakened now,— | |
| “Deceive thyself no more, for thou art old!” | |
| Who strives with Nature’s laws is over-bold, | 5 |
| And Time to his commandments bids us bow. | |
| Like fire that waves have quenched, I calmly vow | |
| In life’s long dream no more my sense to fold. | |
| And while I think, our swift existence flies, | |
| And none can live again earth’s brief career,— | 10 |
| Then in my deepest heart the voice replies | |
| Of one who now has left this mortal sphere, | |
| But walked alone through earthly destinies, | |
| And of all women is to fame most dear. | | | | |
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