Whoever Made a Portrait of Love, Poem by Jean-Antoine de Baïf

Whoever made a portrait of Love,
From where did he take this Child’s model,
On whom he guided his tool so well
To draw this painting true to life?

Indeed he knew the effect of its sting,
Furnishing him with a bow not useless:
Binding his eyes with his subtle brush,
He showed our blind nature.

Just as in your heart, O painter, you had him,
Just as he was to you, just as you knew him,
So you painted his image to the life.

To your love mine seems entirely similar,
Except that yours was fickle and light,
Mine, heavy, has lost its plumage.

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-whoever-made-a-portrait-of-love-jean-antoine-de-baif/