Now fear and now hope | Now fear and now hope

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Ores l'effroy et ores l'esperance

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Ores l'effroy et ores l'esperance,
De tous costez se campent en mon coeur,
Et tour à tour l'un et l'autre est veinqueur,
Pareils en force et en perseverance.

Ores douteux, ores plein d'asseurance,
Entre l'espoir et la doute et la peur,
Heureusement de moy-mesme trompeur,
Au coeur captif je promets delivrance.

Verray-je point avant mourir le temps,
Que je tondray la fleur de son printemps,
Sous qui ma vie à l'ombrage demeure ?

Verray-je point qu'en ses bras enlassé,
De trop combatre en la jouste lassé,
D'un beau trespas entre ses bras je meure ?

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title [author's text not yet checked 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 Guillaume Boni (c1530 - c1594), "Ores l'effroy et ores l'esperance", published 1607 [vocal quartet], from the collection Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, II, no. 24, Paris, Pierre Ballard [
text verified 1 time
]

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , title 1: "Now fear and now hope", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: David Wyatt

This text was added to the website: 2015-02-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 93

Now fear and now hope

Language: English after the French (Français)

Now fear and now hope
Camp all around my heart,
And turn and turn about, one then the other is the winner,
Equal in strength and perseverance.

Now doubtful, now full of certainty,
Between hope, doubt and fear,
Happily my own deceiver,
I promise deliverance to my captive heart.

Shall I never see the time, before I die,
When I shall pluck the flower of her springtime, 
Beneath which my life is lived in shadow?

Shall I never see the time when, twined in her arms,
Wearied by jousting too many times,
I die a happy death within her arms?

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 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 Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-02-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 100