Écoute un peu, Fontaine vive

Écoute [un peu]1, Fontaine vive, 
En qui j'ai rebu si souvent, 
Couché tout plat dessus ta rive, 
Oisif à la fraîcheur du vent, 
Quand l'été ménager moissonne 
Le sein de Cérès dévêtu, 
Et l'aire par compas résonne 
Gémissant sous le blé battu. 
Ainsi toujours puisses-tu être. 
[En dévote religion 
Au boeuf et au bouvier champêtre 
De ta voisine région!]2
Ainsi toujours la lune claire 
Voie à minuit au fond d'un val 
Les Nymphes près de ton repaire 
A mille bonds mener le bal! 
[Comme je désire, Fontaine, 
De plus ne songer boire en toi, 
L'été, lorsque la fièvre amène 
La mort dépite contre moi.]3

Translation(s): ENG

List of language codes

About the headline (FAQ)

En religion à tous ceux
Qui te boiront ou feront paître
Tes verts rivages à leurs bœufs

Authorship

• by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "À la même fontaine", appears in Les odes de jeunesse, no. 4 [ author's text checked 1 time]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Jacques Leguerney (1906 - 1997), "À la Fontaine Bellerie", 1945, published 1986, first performed 1950 [soprano and piano], from Poèmes de la Pléiade, Vol. V, no. 1, Paris, Max Eschig [
   text verified 1 time
  ]
• by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974), "À une fontaine", 1940, from Quatre Chansons de Ronsard, no. 1. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , title 1: "To a fountain", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website: 2011-06-01.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:04:24
Line count: 20
Word count: 104

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To a fountain

Listen to me, living fountain,
from whom I oft have drunk,
flat on my belly overlooking your bank, 
lazy in the cool breeze 
while the summer harvests
Ceres' unclad breast 
and the air whimpers 
beneath the beaten wheat. 
So may you always be 
in religion to all those 
who drink from you or who pasture 
their cattle on your green banks. 
So may nymphs 
forever dance
around you 
in the moonlit midnights.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The material directly above is protected by copyright and appears here by special permission. If you wish to copy it and distribute it, you must obtain permission or you will be breaking the law. Once you have permission, you must give credit to the author and display the copyright symbol ©. Copyright infringement is a criminal offense under international law.

Note: this is a translation of the version used by Leguerney and Milhaud.

Authorship

• Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2002 by Faith J. Cormier, (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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• a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "À la même fontaine", appears in Les odes de jeunesse, no. 4
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Jacques Leguerney, Darius Milhaud. Go to the text.

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.