Tell me where, in what country, <br />Is Flora the beautiful Roman, <br />Archipiada or Thais <br />Who was first cousin to her once, <br />Echo who speaks when there's a sound <br />On a pond or a river <br />Whose beauty was more than human? <br />But where are the snows of yesteryear? <br />Where is the leamed Heloise <br />For whom they castrated Pierre Abelard <br />And made him a monk at Saint-Denis, <br />For his love he took this pain, <br />Likewise where is the queen <br />Who commanded that Buridan <br />Be thrown in a sack into the Seine? <br />But where are the snows of yesteryear? <br /> <br />The queen white as a lily <br />Who sang with a siren's voice, <br />Big-footed Bertha, Beatrice, Alice, <br />Haremburgis who held Maine <br />And Jeanne the good maid of Lorraine <br />Whom the English bumt at Rouen, where, <br />Where are they, sovereign Virgin? <br />But where are the snows of yesteryear? <br /> <br />Prince, don't ask me in a week <br />or in a year what place they are; <br />I can only give you this refrain: <br />Where are the snows of yesteryear?<br /><br />François Villon<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ballad-of-the-ladies-of-yore/
