As justly observed by Czesław Miłosz, “Laments” (Treny) by Jan Kochanowski “should be ranked with the world classics”. This fact has not escaped the notice of many translators, who have been trying to make the work available to speakers of other languages. The article deals with the English and German translations of one lament from the cycle, that is “Lament IX”. It has been chosen on the one hand because of its profound importance within the whole cycle and on the other hand because – in contrast to “Lament X” – it does not seem to attract attention from scholars specializing in translation studies. The authors carry out an in-depth analysis of three translations of the poem into English (Prall, Czerniawski, Heaney – Barańczak) and three its translations into German (Wukadinowić, Erb, Kiermeier), selected with a view to providing a diverse array of translation strategies. They conclude their article with a comparison between those strategies in relation to the formal characteristics of “Lament IX”, its stylistic features, changes in imagery, and archaizing.