Sonnet CLIX.

By Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)

Stiamo, Amor, a veder la gloria nostra. TO LOVE, ON LAURA WALKING ABROAD. Here stand we, Love, our glory to behold-- How, passing Nature, lovely, high, and rare! Behold! what showers of sweetness falling there! What floods of light by heaven to earth unroll'd! How shine her robes, in purple, pearls, and gold, So richly wrought, with skill beyond compare! How glance her feet!--her beaming eyes how fair Through the dark cloister which these hills enfold! The verdant turf, and flowers of thousand hues Beneath yon oak's old canopy of state, Spring round her feet to pay their amorous duty. The heavens, in joyful reverence, cannot choose But light up all their fires, to celebrate Her praise, whose presence charms their awful beauty. MERIVALE. Here tarry, Love, our glory to behold; Nought in creation so sublime we trace; Ah! see what sweetness showers upon that face, Heaven's brightness to this earth those eyes unfold! See, with what magic art, pearls, purple, gold, That form transcendant, unexampled, grace: Beneath the shadowing hills observe her pace, Her glance replete with elegance untold! The verdant turf, and flowers of every hue, Clustering beneath yon aged holm-oak's gloom, For the sweet pressure of her fair feet sue; The orbs of fire that stud yon beauteous sky, Cheer'd by her presence and her smiles, assume Superior lustre and serenity. NOTT.