Madrigale II.
By Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
Perch al viso d' Amor portava insegna.
A LOVE JOURNEY--DANGER IN THE PATH--HE TURNS BACK.
Bright in whose face Love's conquering ensign stream'd,
A foreign fair so won me, young and vain,
That of her sex all others worthless seem'd:
Her as I follow'd o'er the verdant plain,
I heard a loud voice speaking from afar,
"How lost in these lone woods his footsteps are!"
Then paused I, and, beneath the tall beech shade,
All wrapt in thought, around me well survey'd,
Till, seeing how much danger block'd my way,
Homeward I turn'd me though at noon of day.
MACGREGOR.