Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888.
FriendshipPieter Corneliszoon Hooft (15811647)
Translated by Edmund Gosse
T
Starred with fair cities ringed about with towers,
Whose face with hill and laughing valley gleams,
Whose shadowy woods are full of tender flowers,
The birds, the careless beasts beneath the moon,
And that conceited race of feeble man,
All hold their place by harmony, and soon
Sans friendship would sink out of nature’s plan.
From manly friendship cities take their root,
Their nurture and their life; from strife their death;
Thro’ civil jars they pant with heavy breath;
So dangerous is division in the State!
In harmony the seeds of glory shoot,
And peace at home makes little kingdoms great.