by Ovid (43 BCE - 17/18 CE)
Translation by Jean de La Fontaine (1621 - 1695)
Ni l'or ni la grandeur
Language: French (Français)  after the Latin
Available translation(s): ENG
Ni l'or ni la grandeur ne nous rendent heureux ; Ces deux divinités n'accordent à nos voeux Que des biens peu certains, qu'un plaisir peu tranquille : Des soucis dévorants c'est l'éternal asile ; [... ... ...] Le sage y vit, en paix, errant parmi les bois ; Il regard à ses pieds les favoris des Rois ; Il lit au front de ceux qu'un vain luxe environne Que la fortune vend ce qu'on croit qu'elle donne. Approche-t-il du but, quitte-t-il ce séjour, Rien ne trouble sa fin: c'est le soir d'un beau jour.
Note: this is an excerpt from the first stanza of a longer poem titled "Philémon et Baucis", lines 1-4 and 8-13.
Authorship:
- by Jean de La Fontaine (1621 - 1695) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Latin by Ovid (43 BCE - 17/18 CE), appears in Metamorphoses [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "Ni l'or ni la grandeur", subtitle: "Cantilène", 1859-1860 [ medium voice and piano ], from opera Philémon et Baucis [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "Neither gold nor grandeur", copyright © 2000, (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: 13
Word count: 94