Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Arquà | | On the Tomb of Petrarca | | Benedetto Varchi (1502/3–1565) |
| | Anonymous translation
“YE consecrated marbles, proud and dear, | |
| Blest, that the noblest Tuscan ye infold, | |
| And in your walls his holy ashes hold, | |
| Who, dying, left none greater, none his peer; | |
| Since I, with pious hand, with soul sincere, | 5 |
| Can send on high no costly perfumed fold | |
| Of frankincense, and o’er the sacred mould | |
| Where Petrarch lies no gorgeous altars rear, | |
| O, scorn it not, if humbly I impart | |
| My grateful offering to these lovely shades, | 10 |
| Here bending low in singleness of mind!” | |
| Lilies and violets sprinkling to the wind, | |
| Thus Damon prays, while the bright hills and glades | |
| Murmur, “The gift is small, but rich the heart.” | | | | |
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