| Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916. | | | XXVI. Melancholy
Quanta invidia io ti porto | | By Petrarch (Francisco Petrarca) (1304–1374) |
| | Translated by Robert Cadell
O EARTH, whose clay-cold mantle shrouds that face | |
| And veils those eyes that late so brightly shone, | |
| Whence all that gave delight on Earth was known; | |
| How much I envy thee that harsh embrace! | |
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| O Heaven, that in thy airy Courts confin’d | 5 |
| That purest Spirit when from Earth she fled | |
| And sought the Mansions of the righteous Dead,— | |
| Ah envious, thus to leave my parting Soul behind! | |
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| O Angels that in your seraphic Choir | |
| Receiv’d her Sister-soul, and now enjoy | 10 |
| Still present these Delights without alloy | |
| Which my fond Heart must still in vain desire! | |
| In Her I liv’d; in her my Life decays:— | |
| Yet envious Fate denies to end my hapless days. | | | | |
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