by
Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)
Qui voudra voir dedans une jeunesse
Language: French (Français)
Available translation(s): ENG
Qui voudra voir dedans une jeunesse
La beauté jointe avec la chasteté,
L'humble douceur, la grave majesté,
Toutes vertus et toute gentilesse;
Qui voudra voir les yeux d'une déesse
Et de nos ans la seule nouveauté,
De ceste dame oeillade la beauté,
Que le vulgaire appelle ma maistresse.
Il apprendra comme Amour rit et mord,
Comme il guarit, comme il donne la mort;
Puis il dira, voyant chose si belle:
Heureux, vraiment, heureux qui peut avoir
Heureusement cet heur que de la voir,
Et plus heureux qui meurt pour l'amour d'elle!
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1 variant:
Puis il dira: Quelle estrange nouvelle!
Du ciel la terre empruntoit sa beauté;
La terre au ciel maintenant a osté
La beauté mesme, ayant chose si belle.
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , "Whoever would like to see within one young lady", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: David Wyatt
This text was added to the website: 2012-07-25
Line count: 14
Word count: 91
Whoever would like to see within one young lady
Language: English  after the French (Français)
Whoever would like to see within one young lady
Beauty joined with chastity,
Soft humility, grave majesty,
All virtues and all nobility:
Whoever would like to see the eyes of a goddess
And the only novelty of our times;
Let him cast his eye on the beauty of this lady
Whom the common folk call my mistress.
He will learn how love smiles and bites,
How it heals and how it gives death;
Then he will say, seeing a thing so lovely:
Fortunate is he, fortunate indeed, who can have
Just this fortunate hour to see her,
And more fortunate he who dies for love of her!
View text with all available footnotes
1 variant:
Then he will say: what a strange novelty!
From heaven, earth borrows its beauty;
But the earth now has taken from heaven
Beauty itself, having such a beautiful thing [upon it].
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2012 by David Wyatt, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Qui voudra voir dedans une jeunesse"
This text was added to the website: 2012-07-25
Line count: 14
Word count: 107