Luís de Camões (c. 1524–1580)

Translated by J. J. Aubertin

THE EYES where love in chastest fire would glow,

Joying to be consumed amidst their light,

The face whereon with wondrous lustre bright

The purple rose was blushing o’er the snow;

The hair whereof the sun would envious grow,

It made his own less golden to the sight;

The well-formed body and the hand so white,

All to cold earth reduced lies here below!

In tender age, a beauty all entire,

E’en like a blossom gathered ere its time,

Lies withered in the hand of heartless death:

How doth not Love for pity’s sake expire?

Ah! not for her who flies to life sublime,

But for himself whom night extinguisheth.