Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888.
Not Winter CrystalLope de Vega (15621635)
Translated by Henry Richard, Lord Holland
N
That checks the current of the mountain stream;
Not high wrought ebony can blacker seem,
Nor bluer doth the flax its blossom rear;
Not yellower doth the eastern gold appear;
Nor purer can arise the scented steam
Of amber, which luxurious men esteem;
Nor brighter scarlet doth the sea-shell bear;
Than in the forehead, eye-brows, eyes, and hair,
The breath, and lips, of my most beauteous queen,
Are seen to dwell on earth, in face divine:—
And since like all together is my Fair,
Lifeless elsewhere, alive in her are seen
Ice, Ebony, Flax, Gold, Amber, and Carmine.