Spectre des Nuits II

About

As long as my eyes can shed tears
For the time spent with you I regret,
And as long as my voice can resist
Sobs and sighs, and still make itself heard;

As long as my hand can pluck the strings
Of the sweet lute, to sing your graces;
As long as my spirit is content
To desire nothing but to understand you,

I do not yet wish to die.
But, when I feel my eyes run dry,
My voice broken, and my hand powerless,

And my spirit in this mortal stay
No longer able to show signs of a lover,
I will pray for death to darken my brightest day.


Louise Labé, As long as my eyes can shed tears (1555)