Janvier

Warm and be ready
at my tables of obedience
all shall sup.

Fevrier

The goodwife has fed
the pecking crows
and shares the warmth of centuries.

Mars

Oh fair Melusine
do not haunt
my red-roofed tower.

Avril

Gather now the first flowers
of the Spring
and clothe the betrothed in their colour.

Mai

As damsels sit
on fine palfreys
the court of love awakes.

Juin

The lives of past kings
are hidden
as the dancers cut the grass.

Juillet

The blood flowers
have protected our grain
and the bridge leads to Poitiers.

Aout

Ride free with your Falcons
as the peasants bathe
in the softness of their flight.

Septembre

The delicate hand withered
and a heavy vintage
rose from the poor soil.

Octobre

My false bowmen
protect these tilled fields
against the birds of Winter.

Novembre

You may claim acorns
for your beasts
but you are not of my hand.

Decembre

The towers above the forest
will witness the savage
but the silence will return.

 

 

From The Duc de Berry’s Book of Hours  Tres Riches Heures (The Very Rich Hours ) by the Limbourg brothers  c1410 +