Charlotte Smith SONNET XLIV: Written in the churchyard at Middleton in Sussex Press'd by the Moon, mute arbitress of tides,

Pressato dalla Luna, arbitro muto delle maree, While the loud equinox its power combines, Mentre il forte equinozio il suo potere combina, The sea no more its swelling surge confines, Non pi le sue gonfie onde il mare controlla, But o'er the shrinking land sublimely rides. Ma sulla ritrosa terra sublimamente cavalca. The wild blast, rising from the Western cave, Lesplosione selvaggia, che si leva dalla caverna occidentale, Drives the huge billows from their heaving bed; Guida le enormi masse dal loro poderoso letto; Tears from their grassy tombs the village dead, Lacrime dal loro tombe erbose del morto villaggio, And breaks the silent sabbath of the grave! E rompe il silente riposo della tomba! With shells and sea-weed mingled, on the shore Con conchiglie ed alghe mischiate, sulla riva Lo! their bones whiten in the frequent wave; Guarda! Le loro bianche ossa in molte ondate; But vain to them the winds and waters rave; Ma vano ad esse I venti e le acque si rivolgono; They hear the warring elements no more: Non pi esse ascoltano I guerriglieri elementi: While I am doom'dby life's long storm opprest, Mentre io sono destinato ad essere distrutto dalla Lunga oppressione della tempesta della vita, To gaze with envy on their gloomy rest. A fissure con invidia I loro tristi resti.

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Middleton is a village on the margin of the sea, in Sussex, containing only two or three houses. There were formerly several acres of ground between its small church and the sea, which now, by its continual encroachments, approaches within a few feet of this halfruined and humble edifice. The wall, which once surrounded the church-yard, is entirely swept away, many of the graves broken up, and the remains of bodies interred washed into the sea; whence human bones are found among the sand and shingles on the shore. [Smith's note]