C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
To Cassandra
By Pierre de Ronsard (1524–1585)
Translation of Katharine Hillard
“D
That but this morning did unclose
Her crimson vestments to the sun,
Hath not quite lost in evening’s air
The fine folds of that vestment rare,
And that bright tinting like your own.
Dearest, we see o’er all the place
Her scattered beauties strown!
O stepdame Nature! stern and hard,
That could not such a flower have spared
From morn till eve along!
Enjoy the verdure of your spring,
The sweets of youth’s short hour;
Gather the blossoms while ye may,
For youth is gone like yesterday,
And beauty like that flower!”