Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Charles d’Orleans: a great medieval poet in France

Most of his poetry was written while a hostage

  • Through the Forest of Gloomy Sadness: A Ballade
  • Through the forest of gloomy sadness
  • I chanced to make my way one day,
  • And there I met with Love’s Goddess
  • Who spoke and asked why I did stray.
  • I said: “Fortune decreed this day,
  • And exiled me, here, long ago,
  • Rightly I call myself, alway,
  • A man who wanders a path unknown.”
  • Smiling, in her great humbleness,
  • She answered: “Friend, if you could say
  • Why you are filled with this distress,
  • I’d seek to help you in every way:
  • I set your heart on the road that day,
  • To joy. Who has led it awry so?
  • It troubles me now to see you stray,
  • A man who wanders a path unknown.”
  • “Alas!” I said, “my sovereign Princess,
  • What should I say? You know my fate.
  • It’s Death, who brings us mournfulness.
  • He has taken the one I loved away,
  • She in whom all my fond hopes lay,
  • Who guided me: as my friend below,
  • While she lived, so I need not play
  • A man who wanders a path unknown.
  • Blind I am, cast adrift today:
  • Here and there with a staff I stray
  • Lest I’m quite lost, feeling my road:
  • Great shame it is, I must be alway
  • A man who wanders a path unknown.”
  • Never the Smoke without the Fire: A Rondeau
  • Never the smoke without the fire,
  • Nor sad heart without thought’s choir,
  • Nor comfort without hopefulness,
  • Nor happy glance without joy’s caress,
  • Nor bright sun till the cloud lifts higher.
  • Swiftly, my judgment you’ll acquire;
  • May the wise amend it, as they desire!
  • What I know I speak, I do confess:
  • Never the smoke without the fire.
  • For amusement laughter we require,
  • Regret a sigh must ever inspire,
  • A wish is born of longing’s excess,
  • Doubt of a shift in the eye’s address —
  • Tis a thing experience proves entire:
  • Never the smoke without the fire.
Charles d'Orleans

Charles d’Orléans (1394-1465) was the Duke of Orléans in France, although today he is better known as one of the great medieval poets, with more than 500 poems to his name, written in both French and English. He was taken prisoner by the English during the battle of Agincourt and spent 24 years as a hostage of the English crown before being freed through a ransom paid by his allies. Most of his poetry was written while a hostage and reflects the melancholy mood caused by his time spent away from his homeland.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About doTERRA

  • Through the Forest of Gloomy Sadness: A Ballade
  • Through the forest of gloomy sadness
  • I chanced to make my way one day,
  • And there I met with Love’s Goddess
  • Who spoke and asked why I did stray.
  • I said: “Fortune decreed this day,
  • And exiled me, here, long ago,
  • Rightly I call myself, alway,
  • A man who wanders a path unknown.”
  • Smiling, in her great humbleness,
  • She answered: “Friend, if you could say
  • Why you are filled with this distress,
  • I’d seek to help you in every way:
  • I set your heart on the road that day,
  • To joy. Who has led it awry so?
  • It troubles me now to see you stray,
  • A man who wanders a path unknown.”
  • “Alas!” I said, “my sovereign Princess,
  • What should I say? You know my fate.
  • It’s Death, who brings us mournfulness.
  • He has taken the one I loved away,
  • She in whom all my fond hopes lay,
  • Who guided me: as my friend below,
  • While she lived, so I need not play
  • A man who wanders a path unknown.
  • Blind I am, cast adrift today:
  • Here and there with a staff I stray
  • Lest I’m quite lost, feeling my road:
  • Great shame it is, I must be alway
  • A man who wanders a path unknown.”
  • Never the Smoke without the Fire: A Rondeau
  • Never the smoke without the fire,
  • Nor sad heart without thought’s choir,
  • Nor comfort without hopefulness,
  • Nor happy glance without joy’s caress,
  • Nor bright sun till the cloud lifts higher.
  • Swiftly, my judgment you’ll acquire;
  • May the wise amend it, as they desire!
  • What I know I speak, I do confess:
  • Never the smoke without the fire.
  • For amusement laughter we require,
  • Regret a sigh must ever inspire,
  • A wish is born of longing’s excess,
  • Doubt of a shift in the eye’s address —
  • Tis a thing experience proves entire:
  • Never the smoke without the fire.
Charles d'Orleans

Charles d’Orléans (1394-1465) was the Duke of Orléans in France, although today he is better known as one of the great medieval poets, with more than 500 poems to his name, written in both French and English. He was taken prisoner by the English during the battle of Agincourt and spent 24 years as a hostage of the English crown before being freed through a ransom paid by his allies. Most of his poetry was written while a hostage and reflects the melancholy mood caused by his time spent away from his homeland.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Dia de los Muertos Celebration, Love Thy Neighbor(Hood): Food & Art Exploration

Events November 2-November 6, 2024
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Three nights of Mission Bayfest bring bliss

“This is a top-notch production.”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader