Note 139 — CABINET OF BIOGRAPHY. (continued 7)
Reading edition
Lord Strangford's translation is not literal, but it retains all the feeling of the original, and is very beautiful:—
"Till lovers' tears at parting cease to flow, Nor sundered hearts by strong despair be torn, So long recorded be that April morn When gleams of joy were dashed with showers of woe. Scarce had the purpling east began to glow, Of mournful men, it saw me most forlorn; Saw those hard pangs by gentle bosom borne, (The hardest, sure, that gentle bosoms know!) But oh, it saw love's charming secret told By tears fast dropping from celestial eyes, By sobs of grief, and by such piteous sighs As e'en might turn th' infernal caverns cold And make the guilty deem their sufferings ease, Their torments luxury—compared to these!"