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Douce beauté à qui je doy la vie, Le cœur, le corps, et le sang, et l’esprit, Voyant tes yeux Amour mesme m’aprit Toute vertu que [depuis j’ai]1 suivie Mon cueur, ardant d’une amoureuse envie, Si vivement de tes graces s’éprit Que d’un regard de tes yeux il comprit, Que peut honneur, amour et courtoisie. L’homme [est] de plomb, ou bien il n’a point d’ieux, Si te voyant il ne voit tous les cieux En ta beauté qui n’a point de seconde. Ta bonne grace un rocher retiendroit : Et quand sans jour le monde deviendroit, Ton œil si beau seroit le jour du monde.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotes1 Bertrand: "j'ai depuis"
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title, appears in Elegies 1565, first published 1565 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Anthoine de Bertrand (1540? - 1581?), "Douce beauté à qui je dois la vie", published 1578 [ vocal quartet a cappella ], from Les Amours de Pierre de Ronsard à 4 parties, Livre 2, no. 24 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Guillaume Boni (c1530 - c1594), "Douce beauté à qui je dois la vie", published 1608 [ vocal quartet ], from Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, II, no. 6, Paris, Pierre Ballard [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: David Wyatt
This text was added to the website: 2014-08-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 105
Sweet beauty to which I owe my life, My heart, my body, my blood, my spirit, When I saw your eyes Love himself taught me Every virtue which since then I have pursued. My heart burning with love’s desire So swiftly was ravished by your grace That from a glance of your eyes it knew What honour, love and nobility can be. A man is made of lead, or rather has no eyes If, in seeing you, he does not see the whole of Heaven In your beauty, which has no like. Your good graces would captivate a stone; And if the world should be without light, Your eyes – so beautiful! – would be the light of the world.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2014 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), no title, appears in Elegies 1565, first published 1565
This text was added to the website: 2014-08-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 120