lyrics
O beaus yeux bruns, ô regars destournez,
O chaus soupirs, ô larmes espandues,
O noires nuits vainement atendues,
O jours luisans vainement vainement retournez:
O tristes pleins, ô désirs obstinez,
O tems perdu, ô peines despendues,
O mile morts mile rest tendues,
O pires maus contre moy destinez.
O ris, ô front, cheveus, bras, mains et doits:
O lut plaintif, viole, archet et vois:
Tant de flambeaus pour ardre une femmelle!
De toy me plein, que tant de feus portant,
En tant d’endrois d’iceus mon coeur tatant,
N’en est sur toi volé quelque estincelle.
…
Ah handsome brown eyes—ah eyes that turn away—
Ah burning sighs; ah tears that stretch so far;
Ah night I wait in vain for, without a star;
Ah luminous and vainly returning day—
Oh sad complaints; oh love’s stubborn play;
Oh lost hours; oh water pain and war;
Oh thousands deaths, each in a tightened snare;
Oh sullen evils that design against my way.
Ah laugh, ah forehead, hair, arm, hand, and finger,
Ah plaintive lute, viola, bow, and singer—
So many flames to engulf one single woman!
I despair of you; you carry so many fires
To touch my secret places and desires,
But not one spark flies back, to make you human.
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