Awakening

Poem by Théodore Agrippa D'Aubigné Period 16th century

Away from me, vain falsehoods,
Vigilant and pleasant dreams,
Leave me, let me sleep in peace:
For although you are frivolous,
It is from you that one comes to words,
And from words to deeds.

See in the garden the pansies
Shaded with three violets,
From their depths shines a beautiful sun:
There is indeed the image of my thoughts,
Without scent, without fruit, without use,
And they please the eye but a day;

It is but Love in appearance,
It is but a green hope,
Than rays and bright clarity:
But this hope is too vain,
This pleasure produces only pain,
And its rays darkness.

My desires fly incessantly
From fury to cunning,
The middle belongs to gentle hearts:
One paints the Chimera likewise,
Giving to its two extremes
Either lions, or venoms.

What is digested by man
Becomes stinking; do you see how
He is a dangerous animal,
Changing good into its contrary:
For what is vain in doing good,
Is not so in doing evil.

Théodore Agrippa d’Aubigné

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-awakening-theodore-agrippa-d-aubigne/