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We have been rinsed and laundered by the rain,
And by the sunlight dried and blackened too.
Magpie and crow have plucked our eyeballs twain
And cropped our eyebrows and the beards we grew.

— François Villon Ballade des pendus (1489)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Richard Wilbur, transl., "Ballade of the Hanged Men", Poetry (Autumn 2012)

More quotes by François Villon

But whatever may be said about the life of work,
There is no treasure quite like living at one's ease.

Le Grand Testament (The Great Testament) (1461)

The breasts all shrivelled up and gone;
The haunches like the paps withdrawn.

But where are the snows of bygone years?

Le Grand Testament (The Great Testament) (1461)

Prince, I know all, in short,
I know pink cheeks from wan,
I know Death all-devouring,
I know all, save myself.

"In riding to the hounds, in falconry,
In love or war," as anyone will tell you,
"For one brief joy a hundred woes."

Le Grand Testament (The Great Testament) (1461)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: François Villon (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.