#louiselabe

je vis, je meurs

SONNET VIII I live, I die. I drown, I am aflame. I shake with cold and perish with the heat. I leap from anguish to delight; from sweet To bitter. No two moments are the same. And all I leap of joy and lunge of gloom Join in a single instant. Each delight Aches with a hidden torment, and the night Fades, yet survives. I wither, yes I bloom. So Eros leads me on. And when at last I know the full extremity of pain, I feel, quite suddenly, at ease again, Strangely at peace. And when once more I see Some future hope, some present certainty, He comes and flings the furies of the past!