Les Regrets/15

XIV. 'Duthier: would you know what this Rome is?, '

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

XVI. 'Who’ll search out Odysseus’ root for me?'

Les Regrets - XV. ‘D’où vient cela, Mauny, que tant plus on s’efforce’.

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XV

"How is it, Mauny, that the more one tries"
 
How is it, Mauny, that the more one tries
To escape this place, the more some spirit,
(And what is that, but some god within it?)
By some sweet force holds us in its ties?
 
Is it a sign of love, that bait in sweet disguise,
Or some other poison, which we admit
Only to feel our souls depart, bit by bit,
Like a body changed to a tree before our eyes?
 
A thousand times I’ve tried to quit this place,
But now I sense my hair the leaves embrace,
My arms long branches, deep roots my feet.
 
In short, a living trunk of wood, no more,
Bewailing my transformation on this shore,
English myrtle, Alcina’s isle as sweet.

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