| Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888. | | | | An Invitation | | By Philippe Desportes (1546–1606) |
| | Translated by Henry Francis Cary
THIS cool spring, and its waters silver-clean, | |
| In gentle murmurs seem to tell of love, | |
| And all about the grass is soft and green; | |
| And the close alders weave their shade above; | |
| The sidelong branches to each other lean, | 5 |
| And as the west-wind fans them, scarcely move; | |
| The sun is high in mid-day splendour sheen, | |
| And heat has parched the earth, and soiled the grove. | |
| Stay, traveller, and rest thy limbs awhile, | |
| Faint with the thirst, and worn with heat and toil; | 10 |
| Where thy good fortune brings thee, traveller, stay. | |
| Rest to thy wearied limbs will here be sweet, | |
| The wind and shade refresh thee from the heat, | |
| And the cool fountain chase thy thirst away. | | | | |
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