Deprived of friends, of my lord and my fief,
A foreign stranger in strange foreign lands,
Afar from all good things, fatigued with grief,
My thought and will detained in hostile hands,
I find myself a wicked power's prey
See none who might show care to me in shame,
Am under guard, cramped, chained, kept locked away
With naught beside my sorry luck to blame.
I who've seen times when naught pleased me on earth
Must be content with this my source of tears,
Must find in lighter manacles more worth
Than beautiful brocades of bygone years,
And I see Fortune's force has raised her banner
On me, that I should fall to this degree.
But I care not, as I have served with honor
With all the good men in my company.
For I'm consoled that I fell prisoner
In service to my lord with all my might,
Defeated by superior force in war
And not by lack of valor as a knight,
I'm consoled to have made their victory
Cost so excruciating an expense,
Yet want to die of sorrow as I see
The world so reconciled with the offense.
My other woes cause nothing of dismay
Beside the one that so dements the heart
And drives me to abandon hope each day:
I have seen nothing yet to help us start
Making arrangements for our liberation,
And as I think upon the ransom pay
Sforza demands, with no negotiation,
My virtue and my strength slowly decay.
Wherefore now nothing that I know or see
Can give me valor against fear of d**h,
Save God Himself, the rock of verity,
Who fortifies the heart that keeps His faith,
And King Alfons our generous Sovereign
Who will come to my aid with noble hand
And from the peril he has placed us in
Deliver me who serve at his command.
ENVOI:
Virtuous King! My natural lord and good!
We captives now beseech of you no more
Than to remember that your royal blood
Never failed those who fought for it in war.