Les Regrets/1

Les Regrets ~ I written by Joachim Du Bellay translated by A. S. Kline

II. 'I’ll not trawl the Greek seas with my nets,'

Les Regrets - I. ‘Je ne veux point fouiller au sein de la nature,’.

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I

"I’ll not delve to the heart of nature"
 
I’ll not delve to the heart of nature,
I’ll not search the universe’s soul,
I’ll not sound the abyss down below,
Nor devise celestial architecture.
 
I paint not, in my art, so rich a picture,
Those noble themes are absent from my verse,
But to write, for better or for worse,
The diverse happenings here, I’ll venture.
 
I moan to my verses, when I feel regret;
I laugh with them; tell them every secret,
As to the closest confidants of my heart.
 
Therefore I’ve no wish to adorn the same,
No need to dress them in a finer name
Than news, scraps of the commentator’s art.