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Quel Dieu malin, quel astre, me fit estre Et de misére et de tourment si plein ? Quel destin fit que tousjours je me plain De la rigueur d'un trop rigoureux maistre ? Quelle des Sœurs, à l'heure de mon estre Noircit le fil de mon sort inhumain? Et quel démon d'une senestre main, Berça mon corps quand le ciel me fit naistre? [Heureux les corps]1 dont la terre a les os ! Bien heureux ceux que la nuict du chaos Presse au giron de sa masse brutale ! Sans sentiment, leur repos est heureux: Que suis-je, las ! moy chetif amoureux, Pour trop sentir, qu'un Sisyphe ou Tantale ?
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotes1 Boni: "Bien heureux ceux"
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title [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 Guillaume Boni (c1530 - c1594), "Quel dieu malin, quel estre me fit estre", published 1608 [vocal quartet], from the collection Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, I, no. 27, Paris, Pierre Ballard [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , title 1: "What malign god, what star made me", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: David Wyatt
This text was added to the website: 2015-03-01
Line count: 14
Word count: 105
What malign god, what star made me So full of sorrow and pain? What destiny made me always complain Of the harshness of a too-strict master? Which of the Sisters at the time of my creation Blackened the thread of my inhuman fate? And which Demon with ominous hand Cradled my limbs when heaven had me born? Fortunate [those corpses]1 whose bones are in the earth! Fortunate those whom the night of Chaos Presses to the bosom of his rough form! This is not sentiment: their rest is happy; But I, alas, the wretched lover – what am I From having too much feeling, but Sisyphus or Tantalus?
1 Boni: "those"
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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title
This text was added to the website: 2015-03-01
Line count: 14
Word count: 109