| Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888. | | | | Two Flowers I Love | | By Pierre de Ronsard (1524–1585) |
| | Translated by Henry Francis Cary
J’aime la Fleur
TWO flowers I love, the March-flower 1 and the rose, | |
| The lovely rose that is to Venus dear, | |
| The March-flower that of her the name doth bear, | |
| Who will not leave my spirit in repose: | |
| Three birds I love; one, moist with May-dew, goes | 5 |
| To dry his feathers in the sunshine clear; | |
| One for his mate laments throughout the year, | |
| And for his child the other wails his woes: | |
| And Bourgueil’s pine I love, where Venus hung, | |
| For a proud trophy on the darksome bough, | 10 |
| Ne’er since released, my youthful liberty: | |
| And Phœbus’ tree love I, the laurel tree, | |
| Of whose fair leaves, my mistress, when I sung, | |
| Bound with her locks a garland for my brow. | |
| | | Note 1. The violet, which the poet supposes to bear the name of his Marie. [back] | | |
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