Elegiac Sonnets, and Other Poems, Volume 1, The Ninth Edition/Sonnet XIII

by Charlotte Smith

SONNET XIII.

FROM PETRARCH.

OH! place me where the burning moon
    Forbids the wither'd flower to blow;
Or place me in the frigid zone,
    On mountains of eternal snow:
Let me pursue the steps of Fame,
    Or Poverty's more tranquil road;
Let youth's warm tide my veins inflame,
    Or sixty winters chill my blood:
Tho' my fond soul to heaven were flown,
    Or tho' on earth 'tis doom'd to pine,
Prisoner or free—obscure or known,
    My heart, O Laura! still is thine.
Whate'er my destiny may be,
That faithful heart still burns for thee!