Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE OLD WOMAN LAMENTS THE DAYS OF HER YOUTH, by FRANCOIS VILLON Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: I seem to hear lamenting / the armoress who once was fair Alternate Author Name(s): Montcorbier, Francois De Subject(s): Beauty; Old Age; Women; Youth; Transcience | ||||||||
I seem to hear lamenting The Armoress who once was fair, Wishing she were a girl again And speaking after this manner: Ha! old age, villainous and fierce, Why so soon have you laid me low? If I strike myself, what shall hinder My killing myself with such a blow? You have taken the great dominion That Beauty did ordain for me Over scholars, merchants, churchmen, For then no man born could be Who wouldn't give everything to me - Even if later he might regret - If only I would yield him freely What the beggars now reject. Many a man I have refused - Which wasn't behaving sensibly - For the sake of a crafty lad I used To give myself too generously. Others I treated treacherously, But loved him well, upon my soul! But he only repaid abusively, And loved me only for my gold. However much he bullied me, Trampled me, I loved him still; And had he even crippled me, He need only ask me for a kiss To blot out all my ill. The scoundrel, marked with evil stain, Embraced me . . . hardly profitable! For what is left? Sin and shame. But he is dead these thirty years, And old and gray-haired I remain. When I think of the good years, What I was, what I became! When I look at my naked frame, And see how much I have changed, Wretched, wizened, shrunken, lean, My mind is nearly deranged. What has become of my smooth brow, My blond hair, my eyebrows' span, My well-spaced eyes, that glance now, That used to trap the cleverest men? My fine straight nose, then Not big nor small, each dainty ear, The clear, curved cheeks and dimpled chin, And those red lips so fair? Those shoulders, slender and fine, Those long arms and shapely hands, The tiny breasts, hips round and high, Shaped perfectly - a land Made for love's tournaments; The wide loins; and pleasure's seat Set in the firm thighs' extent, Inside its little garden sweet? The wrinkled brow, the hair turned gray, Eyebrows fallen out, dimmed eyes That once attacked with looks and gay Smiles, winning many a merchant prize; Nose bent, as beauty far off flies. Ears drooping, full of hair, Wan cheeks, dead and colorless, Puckered chin, lips like leather. This is human beauty's end! The short arms, gnarled fists, Shoulders quite humped and bent; What of the breasts? mere shriveled tits; Hips and dugs have called it quits; And pleasure's seat? Ugh! And as Fot thighs, they're no thighs now but bits Of things, all flecked like sausages. And so we lament the good old days Among ourselves - poor old fools, Squatting low here on our haunches, Bunched up like woolen balls Around a fire of hempen straw, Quickly lit and quickly gone. And once we were cute and fair! #NAME? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO TELL THE BEAUTY WOULD DECREASE by EMILY DICKINSON SPEED THE PARTING - by ELINOR WYLIE YOUTH IS SWEET AND WELL by LORENZO DE' MEDICI THE BLOOM HATH FLED THY CHEEK, MARY by WILLIAM MOTHERWELL I AM TIRED OF ALL THE YEARS CAN GIVE by FREDERICK WILLIAM HENRY MYERS SWIFTLY THE DAYS FLY PAST by GIUSEPPE PARINI O NOW, ALTHOUGH THE YEAR BE DONE by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON SIT DOON BY ME, MY CANTY FREEND by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON A DOUBLE BALLAD OF GOOD COUNSEL by FRANCOIS VILLON BALLAD MADE AT THE REQUEST OF HIS MOTHER .. PRAY TO OUR LADY by FRANCOIS VILLON |
|