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Marquise, if my face
Has a few somewhat aged traits,
Remember that at my age
You will be scarcely better off.
Time takes pleasure in insulting
The most beautiful things,
And will wither your roses
As it has wrinkled my brow.
The same course of the planets
Rules our days and our nights;
I was once what you are;
You will be what I am.
Yet I have some charms
That are brilliant enough
To have no great alarm
About these ravages of time.
You have some that are adored;
But those you despise
Might well last still
When those others are worn out.
They will be able to save the glory
Of eyes that seem sweet to me,
And in a thousand years make people believe
Whatever I please about you.
Among this new generation,
Where I will have some credit,
You will pass for beautiful
Only insofar as I have said so.
Think about it, beautiful marquise.
Though a graybeard may inspire fear,
He is well worth being courted
When he is made like me.
Pierre Corneille
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-to-the-marquise-pierre-corneille/