Love

A Proper Roundelay

by Pierre de Ronsard 1524–1585

Translated by Curtis Hidden Page (1903) · From Songs and Sonnets of Pierre de Ronsard (1903)

Love

See thou, my Joy, my care,
How many a wondrous thing
In me thou art perfecting
Through beauties beyond compare:

So utterly thine eyes,
Thy laughter and thy grace,
Thy brow, thy hair, thy face
Fashioned in angel's guise,

Do burn me, since the day
When first I knew thereof,
Longing with passion of love
To win them in love's sweet way,

That but for the saving tears
My life is bedewed withal,
Long since beyond recall
'Twere wasted by heat that sears.

And yet thy beauteous eyes,
Thy laughter and thy grace,
Thy brow, thy hair, thy face
Fashioned in angel's guise,

So freeze me, since the day
When first I knew thereof,
Longing with passion of love
To win them in love's sweet way,

That but for the saving heat
My soul is enflamed withal,
Long since beyond recall
'Twere wasted through eyes that greet.

See then, my joy, my care,
How many a wondrous thing
In me thou art perfecting
Through beauty beyond compare.

MLA

Ronsard, Pierre de. “A Proper Roundelay.” Translated by Curtis Hidden Page. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/ronsard/11/.

Chicago

Ronsard, Pierre de. “A Proper Roundelay.” Translated by Curtis Hidden Page. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/ronsard/11/.

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