Jocelyn, July 20, 1800

Poem by Alphonse De Lamartine Period 19th century

O true and mournful image of life!
Joy enters where sorrow has gone out!
Happiness takes the bed from which despair flees!
For what is born by day God makes room at evening;
The cup of life always holds the same measure,
But one hand takes it when the other sets it down,
Alas! and if our eye could sometimes fathom
These cups of happiness that seem to overflow,
Would we not find that every human joy
Is always full of another’s ashes and tears?

Alphonse de Lamartine

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

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