| Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888. | | | | Seek He Who Will | | By Lorenzo de’ Medici (1449–1492) |
| | Translated by William Roscoe
Cerchi, chi vuol, le pompe
SEEK he who will in grandeur to be blest, | |
| Place in proud halls and splendid courts, his joy; | |
| For pleasure, or for gold, his arts employ, | |
| Whilst all his hours unnumbered cares molest. | |
| —A little field in native flowerets drest, | 5 |
| A rivulet in soft murmurs gliding by, | |
| A bird whose love-sick note salutes the sky, | |
| With sweeter magic lull my cares to rest. | |
| And shadowy woods, and rocks, and towering hills, | |
| And caves obscure, and nature’s free-born train, | 10 |
| And some lone nymph that timorous speeds along, | |
| Each in my mind some gentle thought instils | |
| Of those bright eyes that absence shrouds in vain; | |
| —Ah, gentle thoughts! soon lost the city cares among. | | | | |
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