Il faut laisser maisons et vergers et jardins

Poem by Pierre De Ronsard Collection Last Verses (Ronsard)Period 16th century

We must leave houses and orchards and gardens,
Dishes and vessels that the craftsman engraves,
And sing one’s own obsequies in the manner of the Swan,
Who sings his death on the Maeandrian shores.

It is done, I have unwound the course of my destinies,
I have lived, I have made my name famous enough,
My pen flies to the sky to be some sign
Far from worldly charms that deceive the cleverest.

Happy who never was, happier who returns
To nothing as he was, happier who dwells
As a man made a new angel beside Jesus Christ,

Leaving to rot down there his cloak of mud
With which fate, fortune, and destiny play,
Free of the body’s bonds to be only a spirit.

Pierre de Ronsard

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-il-faut-laisser-maisons-et-vergers-et-jardins-pierre-de-ronsard/