| Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888. | | | | Love’s Pilgrimage | | By Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374) |
| | Translated by Barbarina, Lady Dacre
THE PALMER bent, with locks of silver grey, | |
| Quits the sweet spot where he has passed his years, | |
| Quits his poor family, whose anxious fears | |
| Paint the loved father fainting on his way: | |
| And trembling, on his aged limbs slow borne, | 5 |
| In these last days that close his earthly course, | |
| He, in his soul’s strong purpose, finds new force. | |
| Though weak with age, though by long travel worn: | |
| Thus reaching Rome, led on by pious love, | |
| He seeks the image of that Saviour Lord | 10 |
| Whom soon he hopes to meet in bliss above: | |
| So, oft in other forms I seek to trace | |
| Some charm, that to my heart may yet afford | |
| A faint resemblance of thy matchless grace. | | | | |
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