Of a Hat That Blossoms

Poem by Jean-Antoine De Baïf Collection Loves of FrancinePeriod 16th century

From a hat that blossoms
The rose one does not crown,
Your adornments in this regard
Do not set you off at all:
But they are the ornaments
Of your beautiful attire,
The shining beauties
In you on every side:
The precious stones,
The sumptuous gowns,
In your fine array
Lose their embellishments.
No coral comes near
The innocence of your mouth,
Covering beneath its freshness
The whiteness of your teeth.
Beside your well-ordered teeth,
The pearls gathered
On the Indian shore
Would be prized as nothing.
From your bright pupils
The twin little flames
Obscure the brilliance,
Which beneath them yields,
Of fine emeralds.
Your rosy little nails
Dazzle the hue
Of pale onyx.

Is it then a wonder,
If her vermilion mouth,
Or rather that of Cypris,
Has so taken me by surprise?
And if these rare gems
Could seize my greedy eyes
And my soul
With an honorable desire
To make me rich one day,
If her grace, not stingy,
Makes the amorous sea
Calm beneath my oars?
Is there anyone who is astonished
That such avarice
Made me sail suddenly
Toward so rich a gain?

The Portuguese ship
And the Norman vessel
Under the yellowing bed
Where Dawn, lighting
Our somber dwelling
From night and from shadow,
Abandons asleep
Her old man friend.
To the ends of the earth
Let another go, and there amass
Foreign jewels
Bought by dangers
Of perilous storms.
To the farthest shores
Of the gem-bearing Orient,
Let another go sorting,
Along the stony strands,
The precious stones:
I, as long as I live,
Here will pursue
My happy fortune,
Swimming in the love of one,
Who, rich in jewels
Richer and more beautiful,
Impoverishes the shores
Of the savage Indians.

Jean-Antoine de Baïf

Translation generated by Poésies 123 with assistance from the deepseek-chat artificial-intelligence model.

Text published on Poésies 123: https://www.poesies123.com/en/poem-of-a-hat-that-blossoms-jean-antoine-de-baif/