Arts & Sciences
The Poet's Gift
Translated by Curtis Hidden Page (1903) · From Songs and Sonnets of Pierre de Ronsard (1903)
That century to century may tell
The perfect love Ronsard once bore to you,
How he was reason-reft for love of you
And thought it freedom in your chains to dwell;
That age on age posterity full well
May know my veins were filled with beauty of you
And that my heart's one wish was only you,
I bring for gift to you this immortelle.
Long will it live in freshness of its prime.
And you shall live, through me, long after death —
So can the well-skilled lover conquer Time,
Who loving you all virtue followeth.
Like Laura, you shall live the cynosure
Of earth, so long as pens and books endure.
Cite this poem
MLA
Ronsard, Pierre de. “The Poet's Gift.” Translated by Curtis Hidden Page. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/ronsard/28/.
Chicago
Ronsard, Pierre de. “The Poet's Gift.” Translated by Curtis Hidden Page. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/ronsard/28/.
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