| Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888. | | | | In Will’s Despite | | By Lodovico Ariosto (1474–1533) |
| | Translated by James Glassford, of Dougalston
HOW shall my cold and lifeless prayer ascend, | |
| Father of mercies, to thy seat on high, | |
| If, while my lips for thy deliverance cry, | |
| My heart against that liberty contend? | |
| Do Thou, who knowest all, thy rescue send, | 5 |
| Though every power of mine the help deny; | |
| And, oh, make haste before the hour draws nigh | |
| When to the gates of death I shall descend. | |
| Eternal God, oh, pardon that I went | |
| Erring so long, whence have my eyes been smit | 10 |
| With darkness, nor the good from evil known. | |
| To spare offenders, being penitent, | |
| Is even ours;—to drag them from the pit, | |
| Themselves resisting, Lord, is thine alone. | | | | |
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