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Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

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Translation © by David Wyatt

Doux fut le trait
Language: French (Français)  after the French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG
Doux fut le trait qu'Amour hors de sa trousse
Pour me tuer me tira doucement,
Quand je fus pris au doux commencement
D’une douceur si doucettement douce.

Doux est son ris et sa voix qui me pousse
L'âme du corps qui s’en fuit hautement
Devant son chant accordé proprement
Avec mes vers animez de son pouce.

Telle douceur sa voix coule en bas,
Que sans l’oüir l’amoureux ne sçait pas,
Comme en ses rets Amour nous encordelle.

Sans l'ouir, dis-je, Amour mesme enchanter,
Doucement rire, et doucement chanter,
Et moy mourir doucement auprès d'elle.

The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on

  • a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title, written 1552, appears in L'amour de Cassandre , no. 38
    • Go to the text page.

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?), "Doux fut le trait", 1576, published 1578, first performed 1576 [ vocal quartet a cappella ], from Les Amours de Pierre de Ronsard à 4 parties, Livre 1, no. 30 [sung text checked 2 times]

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (David Wyatt) , "Sweet was the arrow", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: David Wyatt

This text was added to the website: 2014-10-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 94

Sweet was the arrow
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
Sweet was the arrow which Love drew from his bag
To kill me sweetly,
When I was caught at the sweet beginning
Of a sweetness so dearly, sweetly sweet.

Sweet is that smile and that voice which draws 
My soul from my body, which flees on high
Before her song, neatly harmonised
With my verses as the her thumb strikes the strings.

Such sweetness her voice pours down
That without hearing it the lover cannot understand
How Love ensnares us in his nets.

Without hearing, I say, Love himself enchanting us,
Sweetly smiling and sweetly singing,
And me sweetly dying beside her.

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in French (Français) by Not Applicable [an adaptation]
    • Go to the text page.

Based on:

  • a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title, written 1552, appears in L'amour de Cassandre , no. 38
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2014-10-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 102

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–Emily Ezust, Founder

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