The Dream of Poliphilus

A large ornamental woodcut initial 'C' decorated with foliate scrolls and intertwined ribbons.

This excellent and new book,
Comparable to those of the ancients,
Tells of everything that is beautiful
Upon this fertile and arable earth.
But it would have been in a wretched state,
If its loving second father The "second father" refers to Jean Martin, the translator and editor who "rebirthed" the text into French after it was left in a rough state by an anonymous translator.
Had not, by his helping hand,
Restored it to the world and made it happy.

Poliphile The protagonist and titular character of the book, often associated here with the original author (widely believed to be Francesco Colonna). first
Gave it what is called its essence:
And the other [the translator], secondly,
Guarded it from death by his power;
For death was taking its pleasure
By plunging the book into the river of forgetfulness A reference to the Lethe, the river in the underworld that caused souls to forget their past lives..
But he brings it back into knowledge
So that it may be ennobled by praise.

Frenchmen will now read it,
Who did not think it existed in the world:
And many praises will be said
Of chaste, pure, and clean friendship:
On which, when a good heart is founded,
Only good can come to it;
Whereas he who abounds in lewdness
Cannot attain any honor.

Bacchus In Greek and Roman mythology, Bacchus (Dionysus) was "twice-born"—first from his mother Semele and later from the thigh of his father, Jupiter. The poem uses this as a metaphor for the book's original Italian creation and its French translation. was sired twice,
As the poets tell us,
And this book speaks with two voices,
At least to those who read it.

Now, since foreigners prize
These two, I would be quite deceived—
And would say the stars are ill-aligned—
If its discourse is not well-received.