| ANTIQUITEZ DE ROME - XX |
THE RUINS THAT WERE ROME - XX |
| Joachim Du Bellay | tr. Michael Haldane |
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| Non autrement qu'on void la pluvieuse nüe |
Not otherwise than one may see clouds big with rain, |
| Des vapeurs de la terre en l'air se soulever, |
Rising from earthly vapours through the air, describe |
| Puis se courbant en arc, à fin de s'abrever, |
An iridescent arc, with purpose to imbibe, |
| Se plonger dans le sein de Thetis la chenue, |
Then plunge into the breast of hoary Thetis’ main, |
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| Et montant de rechef d'où elle estoit venue, |
And once more mounting to their place of derivation, |
| Sous un grand ventre obscur tout le monde couver, |
Beneath a large, dark belly cover all the Earth, |
| Tant que finablement on la void se crever |
Until at last their brooding weight is seen to burst |
| Or' en pluie, or' en neige, or' en gresle menue: |
As rain, as snowfall, or as grained precipitation: |
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| Ceste ville qui fut l'ouvrage d'un pasteur |
This city, which as pastor’s handiwork began, |
| S'élevant peu à peu, creut en telle hauteur, |
Arising step by step, to such hauteur increased |
| Que Royne elle se vid de la terre et de l'onde: |
That she beheld herself as Queen of land and sea: |
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| Tant que ne pouvant plus si grand faix soustenir, |
But then, unable to sustain this heavy span, |
| Son pouvoir dissipé s'écarta par le monde, |
Her power, dissipating under Heaven, ceased, |
| Monstrant que tout en rien doit un jour devenir. |
Showing that all shall one day nothing come to be. |