Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Introductory | | To Italy | | Vincenzo da Filicaja (1642–1707) |
| | Translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
ITALY! Italy! thou who ’rt doomed to wear | |
| The fatal gift of beauty, and possess | |
| The dower funest of infinite wretchedness | |
| Written upon thy forehead by despair; | |
| Ah! would that thou wert stronger, or less fair, | 5 |
| That they might fear thee more, or love thee less, | |
| Who in the splendor of thy loveliness | |
| Seem wasting, yet to mortal combat dare! | |
| Then from the Alps I should not see descending | |
| Such torrents of armed men, nor Gallic horde | 10 |
| Drinking the wave of Po, distained with gore, | |
| Nor should I see thee girded with a sword | |
| Not thine, and with the stranger’s arm contending, | |
| Victor or vanquished, slave forevermore. | | | | |
|
|
