Phedra

I see I can't control my emotions.
Since I've broken my silence
Madam, I must go on: I must tell you
The secret my heart can no longer contain.
You see before you a pitiable prince,
The very image of fearless pride.
I spurned the whole idea of love,
Offended by its captives and their chains;
Pitying the wrecks of flesh and blood,
I always thought to watch the storm from the shore.
Now I'm like all the rest,
I see myself swept out to sea!
I was defeated in a moment:
My proud spirit is finally brought to heel;
For six months, ashamed, in despair,
Pierced by an arrow,
I've raged against you, against myself.
It's no use.
When you're there, I run away;
When you're not, I see you
Everywhere;
Deep in the forest, your image haunts me;
By day, by night,
Everything shines with your radiance;
I would rebel, I can't;
Everything makes me your slave.
I don't recognise myself; I'm lost.
My bow, my spears, my chariot - I despise them;
I've forgotten what it was that Neptune taught me.
The woods ring only with my lovesick sighs,
My stallions stand idle - they've forgotten the sound of my voice.
You must be appalled at this declaration,
To have aroused such savage love!
How could I offer you my heart in such brutal terms!
Don't you find your prisoner bizarre?
All the more reason to value my love - it's genuine.
Remember, I'm speaking a foreign language;
Don't reject what I'm saying because I don't know how to say it;
Without you, I'd never have felt what I feel.

Hippolytos declaration of love to Aricia
- Racine's Phedra.