 | The miscellaneous works (1739) |  |
Translated from the Italian of Petrucci.
Contentatevi, o cieli chiarissimi, &c.
Permit
me, O ye radiant skies,
On your gay heights to fix mine eyes;
While you the envious curtains prove,
That from my sight conceal my love.
On your gay heights to fix mine eyes;
While you the envious curtains prove,
That from my sight conceal my love.
121
I know my guilty eyes unmeet
The splendor of the stars to greet,
And more deserve to view below
The caves where streams of sulphur glow.
These prospects all my soul confound,
My hopes in vast despair are drown'd;
Till I the glorious methods trace,
The triumphs of almighty grace;
When thus my soul transported cries,
The splendor of the stars to greet,
And more deserve to view below
The caves where streams of sulphur glow.
These prospects all my soul confound,
My hopes in vast despair are drown'd;
Till I the glorious methods trace,
The triumphs of almighty grace;
When thus my soul transported cries,
Permit me, O ye radiant skies,
On your gay heights to fix mine eyes;
While you the envious curtains prove,
That hide the object of my love.
On your gay heights to fix mine eyes;
While you the envious curtains prove,
That hide the object of my love.
Ye starry lights, ye gawdy flames,
That deck the spheres with golden beams,
You, that pave the milky way,
You, that constant rules obey,
Or wand'ring thro' the ether, stray;
In your gay courses ye declare
How much more bright those glories are,
By everlasting love prepar'd,
Unshaken virtue to reward.
Thy joys, vain world, no more invite
My flatter'd sense to false delight;
Celestial objects fire my soul,
And ev'ry humbler wish controul.
That deck the spheres with golden beams,
You, that pave the milky way,
You, that constant rules obey,
Or wand'ring thro' the ether, stray;
In your gay courses ye declare
How much more bright those glories are,
By everlasting love prepar'd,
Unshaken virtue to reward.
Thy joys, vain world, no more invite
My flatter'd sense to false delight;
Celestial objects fire my soul,
And ev'ry humbler wish controul.
Permit me then, ye radiant skies,
On your gay heights to fix mine eyes;
For you the envious curtains prove,
That from my sight conceal my love.
On your gay heights to fix mine eyes;
For you the envious curtains prove,
That from my sight conceal my love.
122
But while I fondly gaze on you,
And bid all human things adieu,
Your beauties all my pain renew.
Then view the anguish of my breast,
With love, impatient love, distrest;
Those interposing clouds divide,
That all my joys and treasure hide;
But you are deaf—ye sons of light,
That gaze on the transporting sight,
And lose yourselves in vast delight;
That know the boundless heights of love,
Yet nothing but its pleasures prove;
O, tell me where my Lord to find,
For you are still to mortals kind;
Yet now, regardless of my care,
You leave to winds my fruitless pray'r:
And bid all human things adieu,
Your beauties all my pain renew.
Then view the anguish of my breast,
With love, impatient love, distrest;
Those interposing clouds divide,
That all my joys and treasure hide;
But you are deaf—ye sons of light,
That gaze on the transporting sight,
And lose yourselves in vast delight;
That know the boundless heights of love,
Yet nothing but its pleasures prove;
O, tell me where my Lord to find,
For you are still to mortals kind;
Yet now, regardless of my care,
You leave to winds my fruitless pray'r:
Permit me then, ye radiant skies,
On your gay heights to fix mine eyes;
Since you the envious curtains prove,
That from my sight conceal my love.
On your gay heights to fix mine eyes;
Since you the envious curtains prove,
That from my sight conceal my love.
Thou charming author of my pain,
Let me at last my suit obtain;
Or if deny'd so high a grace,
In the bright skies to view thy face,
Thy paths I'd thro' some desart trace;
Savage as that, where thou the scorn
Of tempting fiends, for me hast born;
Or to the dismal garden's shade,
Where terrors did thy soul invade;
Or let me climb, to follow thee,
The painful steep of Calvary:
However gloomy be the place,
May I but there behold thy face;
A paradise to me 'twill prove,
High heav'n, and all the joys above.
But, ah! my pray'rs are still deny'd,
And still thou dost thy beauties hide.
Let me at last my suit obtain;
Or if deny'd so high a grace,
In the bright skies to view thy face,
Thy paths I'd thro' some desart trace;
Savage as that, where thou the scorn
Of tempting fiends, for me hast born;
Or to the dismal garden's shade,
Where terrors did thy soul invade;
Or let me climb, to follow thee,
The painful steep of Calvary:
123
May I but there behold thy face;
A paradise to me 'twill prove,
High heav'n, and all the joys above.
But, ah! my pray'rs are still deny'd,
And still thou dost thy beauties hide.
Permit me then, ye radiant skies,
On your gay heights to fix mine eyes;
Since you the envious curtains prove,
That hide the object of my love.
On your gay heights to fix mine eyes;
Since you the envious curtains prove,
That hide the object of my love.
| The miscellaneous works (1739) | |