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ON VISITING PETRARCH'S HOUSE by ROWLAND EYLES EGERTON-WARBURTON

First Line: MARY! WHEN WE TO ARQUA'S VILLAGE CAME
Last Line: NOR CAR'D FOR FAME WHO WAS IN LOVE SO BLEST.
Subject(s): LOVE; LOVE - UNREQUITED; PETRARCH (1304-1374); POETRY & POETS; FRANCESCO PETRARCA;

MARY! when we to Arqua's village came,
Saw the rear'd tomb, the fountain's hallow'd rill,
And climb'd the summit of that verdant hill
Where Petrarch's dwelling bears the poet's name;
When I beheld the crowded page proclaim,
In varied tongue, unchanging homage still,
The deathless praise that shall all ages fill,
I sigh'd myself to share the poet's fame.
Yet, ah! when I remember'd how in vain
His lyre he strung to soften Laura's pride,
Doom'd to a life of unrequited pain;
Ah! Mary, then thy yielding hand I prest,
Turn'd from that book to gaze upon my Bride,
Nor car'd for Fame who was in Love so blest.



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