Place Me Above the Sea Where the Sun Rises

Poem by Jean-Antoine De Baïf Collection Loves of MélinePeriod 16th century

Place me above the sea where the sun rises,
Or near the shore where its flame dies;
Place me in the cold country, where its warmth does not reach,
Or on the baked sands that its hot ray strikes;

Place me in long sorrow, place me in brief joy,
In frank freedom, in forced servitude;
Whether I be free, or imprisoned and confined,
In assurance, or doubt, or in war or in truce;

Place me at the lowest foot or on the high summits
Of the highest mountains, O Méline, and place me
In a sad night or in gay light;

Place me above the sky, place me beneath the earth,
I shall always be the same, and my final faith
Will always be found the same as the first.

Jean-Antoine de Baïf

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

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