Translated by A. Z. Foreman - The Prisoner lyrics

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.