Lovesongs of the Colony

The following is an English translation of a poem composed by an unknown colonist and saved among the Santerre papers:

MY TWENTY YEARS

First Stanza
I had twenty years when the eyes of a woman
When one word of love made my heart beat
To be loved I would have sold my soul
And with my blood I paid this coquette
I only saw these ladies so beautiful
That I confounded Autumn with the Spring
I thought therefore that you were all faithful
How I would again like to have twenty years.

Second Stanza
The women are changeable like the waves
When I found I no longer had twenty years
I was fooled by the brunet and the blondes
A wind or a breath blows away their charme
I who thought the women in my dreams
That all your hearts were more constant
Your promises of love alas are all falsehoods
How I would again like to have twenty years.

Third Stanza

Of your beauty I sing your praises
When I had twenty years 1 sang always
It is not that I adore only the angels
Now I love and I sang of their loves
All because it is that yes you are so amiable
And you are attractive my ladies and witty
More I grow older the more I see your charms
How I would again like to have twenty years.