L’Olive augmentée/11

X. 'If he spoke true, then parch for me the shade'

L’Olive ~ XI written by Joachim Du Bellay translated by A. S. Kline

XII. 'If our life is less than a single day '

L’Olive - XI ‘Esprit divin, que la troupe honnorée’.

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XI
’Spirit divine, whom the honoured band'

Spirit divine, whom the honoured band
Of the twin mount admires on hearing,
New-born swan, that soars in its singing,
From temperate shores to Hyperborean:
 
If my Liré, enamoured by what this land
Knows of your glory, fails in its retelling,
I love, admire, adore yet, the inspiring
Flight of the golden pen in your hand.
 
The proud Arno worships on its shore
The sacred Laurel, alive for evermore,
And your Délie enhances your slow Saône.
 
My Loire too, a demigod through my art,
Extends his open arms, with burning heart,
To the olive shoot that on his banks I’ve sown.