Sonnet XVII: I flee from town, and temple, and the rest - Louise Labé

I flee from town, and temple, and the rest,

where, pleased at hearing you complain,

you could, compel me, at some pain,

to grant you of what I treasure best.

Masques, games, tourneys are mere plays;

without you there’s nothing to admire:

struggling, all the while, to quench this fire,

and find another object for my gaze,

and distract myself from thoughts of love,

a most lonely woodland grove I prove.

But having wandered many ways, I see,

if I would find deliverance anew,

I must live far beyond sight of me,

or be sure to stay as far away from you.

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Louise Charlin Perrin Labé [La Belle Cordière] ( c. 1524 – 1566) France

Translated by A. S. Kline

Source: Poetry in Translation