Je suis homme nè pour mourir

  Je suis homme nè pour mourir,
Je suis bien seur que du trespas
Je ne me sçaurois secourir
Que poudre je n'aille là-bas.
  Je cognois bien les ans que j'ay,
Mais ceus qui me doibvent venir,
Bons ou mauvais, je ne les sçay,
Ny quand mon age doit finir.

  Pource fuyés vous-en, esmoy,
Qui rongés mon coeur à tous cous,
Fuyés vous-en bien loing de moy,
Je n'ay que fair' avecques vous.  
  Au moins avant que trespasser,
Que je [paisse]1 à mon ais' un jour
Jouer, sauter, rir', et dancer,
Avecque Bacchus, et Amour.

Translation(s): ENG

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About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship

• by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Imitation d'Anacreon", ode. [ 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 Jean de Castro (c1540 - c1600), "Je suis homme nè pour mourir" [
   text verified 1 time
  ]
• by Judith Cloud , "Je suis homme, né pour mourir" [baritone or mezzo-soprano and piano], from Quatre mélodies de Ronsard, no. 4. [
   text not verified 
  ]

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

• ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , title 1: "I am a man born to die", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

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I am a man born to die

I am a man born to die.
I am certain that
I cannot save myself from death,
from descending into death.
Well I know the years I have had,
but those that are to come,
good or bad, I do not know,
nor when my age shall end.

Flee, confusion
that gnaws at my heart at all costs.
Flee far from me.
I have nothing to do with you,
unless, before I die,
some day I may 
play and jump, laugh and dance,
with Bacchus and Love.

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Note: this is a translation of Castro's version.

Authorship

• Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 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), "Imitation d'Anacreon", ode.
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Jean de Castro, Judith Cloud. Go to the text.

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