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XXIX SONNETS

By Estienne de La Boetie

To

Madame De Grammont

Countess of Guissen

MADAME, I HERE OFFER you nothing of my own, either because it is already yours, or because I find nothing there worthy of you; but I could wish that these verses, wheresoever they might be seen, should bear your name in front, for the honour it will be to them to have as a guide the great Corisande d'Andoins. This gift seems to me fitting for you, because there are few ladies in France who have better judgement, and who make a more apt use of poetry; and besides, because there are none who can render it alive and lively as you do by those beautiful, rich harmonies, wherewith, in addition to a

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