European Elegies/Winter/Winter woods
27.WINTER WOODS
Fair sylvan solitude, belov'd retreat
Of my bewildered spirit, tired out
These dark, short days, when north winds wrap about
The earth and sky frost's hoary winding-sheet,
Thy ancient, green-dark tresses, touched with sleet,
Are grown as white as mine, and all throughout
Thy open glades the snow has put to rout
The scarlet flowers that made the springtime sweet.
Of my bewildered spirit, tired out
These dark, short days, when north winds wrap about
The earth and sky frost's hoary winding-sheet,
Thy ancient, green-dark tresses, touched with sleet,
Are grown as white as mine, and all throughout
Thy open glades the snow has put to rout
The scarlet flowers that made the springtime sweet.
Here, in the misty light of this brief day,
I meditate upon my mortal pain
And feel my mind and members turn to ice;
But more than nature's is my frost's stark reign;
My winter brings a wind more sharp to slay,
A longer night, a day with darker skies.
I meditate upon my mortal pain
And feel my mind and members turn to ice;
But more than nature's is my frost's stark reign;
My winter brings a wind more sharp to slay,
A longer night, a day with darker skies.
From the Italian of Giovanni della Casa.