3
Poetic
You will mourn, all you Venuses and Cupids!
and all you, you who think you might be proper!
he is dead, is the sparrow which my girl had,
sparrow, fluttery darling of my darling!
please know this: she had loved you more than her self,
you were honey, and yes, I know you knew her
(her!) just like little girls will know their mothers,
and you never escaped her little lap, no,
dancing, (sweet!) side-to-side you bounced around her,
your one lady, to whom you twitter-tweeted.
now you’re off on a dark and dismal journey
where they say not a single soul returns from.
But you’ll pay, all you darknesses and evils
of Down There, you devour every beauty:
you have stolen a bird of beauty from me!
it was evil! and now the sparrow’s hurting!
it’s your fault that my little girl is crying,
and her sweet little eyes are red and puffy!
Literal
You will mourn, Venuses and Cupids,
and anyone who is particularly charming!
My girl's sparrow is dead,
the sparrow, my girl's darling,
whom my girl loved more than her own eyes,
since he was honey-sweet, and knew her
herself as well as a girl knows her mother,
nor did he move himself from her lap,
but, leaping around, now this way, now that,
he would tweet to his only mistress.
Now, he is going on a dark journey,
to that place where they deny that anyone comes back from.
But let things be bad for you, evil darknesses
of Orcus, who devour everything beautiful:
you have stolen such a beautiful sparrow from me!
Oh, an evil deed! Oh, poor little sparrow!
By your doing, my girl's
little swollen eyes are now red with crying.