If Only the Image of the Thing, Poem by Pierre De Ronsard

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

If only the image of the thing
Makes the thing conceived in our eyes,
And if my eye has no power to see,
Unless some idol stands before it:

Why did He who composes all
Not make my eyes larger, so as better
In their largeness to receive the greatness
Of the semblance in which my life is enclosed?

Indeed, heaven, too ungrateful for its gift,
Which alone made her, and alone saw how much
Of its divine beauty was the Idea,

As if jealous of a good so precious,
Blinded the world, and blinded my eyes,
So that by it alone she might be looked upon.

Pierre de Ronsard

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

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