Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888.
Loves BondmanFra Guittone dArezzo (c. 12351294)
Translated by Henry Francis Cary
G
That thy celestial throne, O Lord, surround,
Where perfect peace and pardon shall be found,
Peace for good doings, pardon for the wrong;
Great joy to hear the vault of heaven prolong
That everlasting trumpet’s mighty sound,
That shall to each award their final bound,
Wailing to these, to those the blissful song.
All this, dear Lord, were welcome to my soul,
For on his brow then every one shall bear
Inscribed, what late was hidden in the heart;
And round my forehead wreath’d a lettered scroll
Shall in this tenor my sad fate declare:
“Love’s bondman, I from him might never part.”