Louise Labé (1524 –
1566) was born in Lyons France, and died there. Her father, Pierre Labé, was a
prosperous ropemaker. Louise married an older man, Ennemond Perrin, also a
ropemaker; hence, her famous nickname La Belle Cordière, the beautiful
wife of a ropemaker.
Louise belonged to
the Lyons group of poets. She wrote twenty-four sonnets, all on the single
theme of passionate love, its anguish as well as its tenderness. Although there
is no definite proof that she had one or more liaisons, her last sonnet, Do
Not Blame Me, Ladies, is a half-playful answer to the charges leveled
against her by Lyons society.
· Sonnet I What If The Hero
· Sonnet II Your
Cold, Appraising Eyes
· Sonnet III My Long Desire
· Sonnet IV When
Love Arrives
· Sonnet V Bright Venus
· Sonnet VI Twice Blessed
· Sonnet VII All Love Is Seen
· Sonnet VIII I Live, I Die
· Sonnet IX However Soon
· Sonnet X When I Catch Sight
· Sonnet XI One Passing Glance
· Sonnet XII O Lute, True Friend
· Sonnet XIII If Only I Were Ravished
· Sonnet XIV As Long As Tears
· Sonnet XV Pay Homage
· Sonnet XVI A Bolt Of Lightning
· Sonnet XVII I Run Away
· Sonnet XVIII
O Kiss Me
· Sonnet XIX The Beautiful Diana
· Sonnet XX I Always Knew
· Sonnet XXI That Solemn Grandeur
· Sonnet XXII O Shining Sun
· Sonnet XXIII
Alas! You Used To Pour Out
Lavish Praise
· Sonnet XXIV Do Not Blame Me, Ladies
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