From Jean Racine’s Berenice. Trying to polish even a few lines of translated Racine is a lesson in humility.
Qu’ai-je donc fait, grands Dieux! Quel cours infortuné
à ma funeste vie aviez-vous destiné?
Tous mes moments ne sont qu’un éternel passage
De la crainte à l’espoir, de l’espoir à la rage. (1309-1312)
What then have I done, great Gods! What unblessed course
have you determined for my gloomy life?
All my moments are only an eternal crossing
from fear to hope, from hope to fury
Extracts 