Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888.
It Was the Time, When RestJoachim du Bellay (15521560)
Translated by Edmund Spenser
I
From Heaven’s height into men’s heavy eyes,
In the forgetfulness of sleep doth drown
The careful thoughts of mortal miseries:
Then did a ghost before mine eyes appear
On that great river’s bank that runs by Rome,
Which, calling me by name, bade me to rear
My looks to Heaven, whence all good gifts do come;—
And crying loud, Lo! now behold, quoth he,
What under this great temple placèd is;
Lo, all is naught but flying vanity!
So I, that know this world’s inconstancies,
Since only God surmounts all time’s decay,
In God alone my confidence do stay.