University of Virginia Library

To Laura.

(From Petrarch.)

My Laura, my love, I behold in thine eyes
Twin daystars that Mercy has given,
To teach me on earth to be happy and wise
And guide me triumphant to heaven!
Their lessons of love through a lifetime have taught
My bosom thy pureness and sweetness;
They have roused me to virtue, exalted my thought,
And made my celestial meetness.
They have shed on my heart a delightful repose;
All else it hath barr'd from its portal;
So deeply the stream of my happiness flows,
I know that my soul is immortal.