Laudator Temporis Acti

Pierre de Ronsard, Odes 4.13, in Paul Laumonier, ed., Œuvres complètes de P. de Ronsard, nouv. éd., T. II (Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1914?), p. 338 (my translation):

My sweet youth is gone,
my former strength is shattered,
I have black teeth and white hair,
my nerves are wasted away, and my veins
(so cold is my body) are filled        5
only with reddish water instead of blood.

Farewell, my lyre, farewell, maidens,
formerly my sweet loves,
farewell, I feel my end approaching:
no tokens of my youth        10
accompany me in old age
except fire, bed, and wine.

My head is completely muddled
from excess of years and illness,
on every side care grips me,        15
and whether I go or I linger,
I always look behind myself
to see if Death is coming:

Which must, it seems to me, at any time
lead me to the place where dwells        20
some Pluto or other, who holds
open to all comers a cave,
whither one very easily enters,
but whence one never returns.

---

Ma douce iouuance est passée,
ma premiere force est cassée,
i'ay la dent noire & le chef blanc,
mes nerfs sont dissous, & mes veines,
tant i'ay le corps froid, ne sont pleines        5
que d'vne eau rousse en lieu de sang.

Adieu, ma lyre, adieu, fillettes
iadis mes douces amourettes,
adieu, ie sens venir ma fin:
nul passetemps de ma ieunesse        10
ne m'accompagne en la vieillesse,
que le feu, le lict & le vin.

I'ay la teste tout estourdie
de trop d'ans & de maladie,
de tous costez le soin me mord:        15
et soit que i'aille ou que ie tarde,
tousiours apres moy je regarde
si ie verray venir la Mort:

Qui doit, ce me semble, à toute heure
me mener là bas, où demeure        20
ie ne sçay quel Pluton, qui tient
ouuert à tous venans vn antre,
où bien facilement on entre,
mais d'où jamais on ne reuient.

Maybe I should have translated passetemps (line 10) as pastimes, by which Ronsard meant sitting by the fire, lying in bed, and drinking wine (line 12).