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AN
ODE OF PETRARCH,
TO THE
FOUNTAIN OF VALCHIUSA.
YE clear and sparkling streams,
Warm'd by the sunny beams,
Through whose transparent crystal Laura play'd;
Ye boughs, that deck the grove.
Where Spring her chaplets wove,
While Laura lay beneath the quivering shade;
Canzone 27.
Chiare, fresche, e dolci acque,
Ove le belle membra
Pose colei, che sola a me par doana;
Gentil ramo, ove piacque
(Con fofpir mi rimembra)
A lei di fare al bel fianco colonna;
- ↑ M. de Voltaire has given us a beautiful paraphrase of this first stanza, though it is certain that he had never read the ode in the original
