I Would Be Ixion and Tantalus

Poem by Pierre De Ronsard Collection First Book of LovesThemes LovePeriod 16th century

I would be Ixion and Tantalus,
On the wheel and in the waters down there,
And naked against naked press in my arms
This beauty that equals the angels.

If it were so, every fatal torment
Would be sweet to me and would not burn me,
No, though I were the meal of a vulture,
No, though I were he who rolls the rock back up and down.

To touch but her little breast.
Would exchange the darkness of my fate
For the better lot of the princes of Asia:

A demigod would make me his kiss,
And flank against flank in his arms lie at ease,
One of those Gods who eat Ambrosia.

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-i-would-be-ixion-and-tantalus-pierre-de-ronsard/