When I Saw You Among a Thousand Ladies

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

When I saw you among a thousand Ladies,
The elite and flower of the noble, and most beautiful,
Your splendor was such among them,
As Venus is upon the celestial flames.

Love then took vengeance for a thousand souls
That had once been rebellious to him,
Such sparks your eyes had
By which you inflame everyone’s heart.

Phoebus, jealous of your sacred light,
Covered the sky with a dark cloud,
But the air, despite his light all extinguished,

Was more serene around your face.
Then the god, in a constrained rage,
Poured out a broad marsh of tears.

Jean-Antoine de Baïf

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

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