Quand je vois ces messieurs, desquels l'autorité

Joachim du Bellay 1525 (Liré) – 1560 (Paris)



Quand je vois ces messieurs, desquels l'autorité
Se voit ores ici commander en son rang,
D'un front audacieux cheminer flanc à flanc,
Il me semble de voir quelque divinité.

Mais les voyant pâlir lorsque Sa Sainteté
Crache dans un bassin, et d'un visage blanc
Cautement épier s'il y a point de sang,
Puis d'un petit souris feindre une sûreté

O combien (dis-je alors) la grandeur que je voy
Est misérable au prix de la grandeur d'un Roi !
Malheureux qui si cher achète tel honneur.

Vraiment le fer meurtrier et le rocher aussi
Pendent bien sur le chef de ces seigneurs ici,
Puisque d'un vieux filet dépend tout leur bonheur

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
155

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBA AXBA XCC DDC
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 632
Words 111
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3

Joachim du Bellay

Joachim du Bellay was a French poet, critic, and a member of the Pléiade. more…

All Joachim du Bellay poems | Joachim du Bellay Books

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1 Comment
  • Henri
    This sonnet is typical of Les Regrets: it combines biting satire (here, as often, of powerful courtiers) with moralism (pity at those whose station in life rests on the flimsy basis of royal or papal favour.)
    LikeReply2 years ago

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"Quand je vois ces messieurs, desquels l'autorité" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/21481/quand-je-vois-ces-messieurs,-desquels-l'autorité>.

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