A Clairvoyant Falcon Flying Along the River

Poem by Théodore Agrippa D'Aubigné Period 16th century

A clairvoyant falcon flying along the river
Soared in the sky, ready to swoop
Upon its crouching prey. But seeing nearby
A crow, it abandons a first stoop.

Thus by her charms a proud mistress
Rising to the sky strikes me down beneath her beauty,
But her fickle will is suddenly carried away
To love a crow, leaving me behind.

Ah! fair darkened eyes that have taken the worse,
More apt to wound than discreet in choosing,
I fear you struck down, as is the bird

That awaits only death from the enemy’s talon
Unless change gives it back its life,
And it is change that drags me to the grave.

Théodore Agrippa d’Aubigné

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

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