by
Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)
Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame
Language: French (Français)
Available translation(s): ENG
Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame,
Il me suffit, car je ne veux avoir
Plus grand honneur, sinon que de me voir
En te baisant, dans ton sein rendre l'âme.
Celui que Mars horriblement enflamme
Aille à la guerre, et manque de pouvoir,
Et jeune d'ans, s'ébatte à recevoir
En sa poitrine une Espagnole lame ;
Mais moi, plus froid, je ne requiers, sinon
Après cent ans, sans gloire, et sans renom,
Mourir oisif en ton giron, Cassandre.
Car je me trompe, ou c'est plus de bonheur,
Mourir ainsi, que d'avoir tout l'honneur,
Pour vivre peu, d'un guerrier Alexandre.
J. Castro sets stanza 1
F. Regnard sets stanza 1
A. Utendal sets stanza 1
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotes
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Guillaume Boni (c1530 - c1594), "Si je trespasse entre tes bras Madame", published 1608 [vocal quartet], from Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, I, no. 28, Paris, Pierre Ballard [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jean de Castro (c1540 - c1600), "Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame", stanza 1. [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jean de Maletty (flourished 16th century), "Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame" [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by François Regnard (c1530 - c1600), "Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame", stanza 1. [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alexander Utendal (1543?5 - 1581), "Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame", stanza 1. [ sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) (David Wyatt) , "If I die in your arms, Madame", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 99
If I die in your arms, Madame
Language: English after the French (Français)
If I die in your arms, Madame,
it will be enough, for I crave
no greater honour
than to surrender my soul in your embrace.
The man who is terribly excited by Mars
Can go to war, and little in strength
And young of years, gambol about till he receives
In his chest a Spanish blade;
But me, I'm colder, I don't want to die, unless it's
In a hundred years, without glory, without renown,
Dying idly in your lap, Cassandra.
For I fool myself that it's more fortunate
To die thus, than to have all the honour
Of warlike Alexander, but to live only a little.
View text with all available footnotes
Stanza 1 is translated by Faith Cormier (2000); the rest is translated by David Wyatt.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2012 by Faith J. Cormier and 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), "Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame"
This text was added to the website: 2012-07-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 107