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Helas mon Dieu y a il en ce monde [mal]1 ou ennui dont on ait cognoissance Qui soit esgal à ma douleur profonde Helas mon Dieu si j’avois la puissance De declarer la peine que je porte Ce me seroit une grande allegeance. Helas mon Dieu pitié [estes vous morte ? Qui vous]2 defend que mort ne me contente Puis qu’autre espoir je n’ay que me confort ? Helas mon Dieu le [temps]3 de mon attente S’en va passant comme songe ou fumee Et ma douleur est seule permanente. Helas mon Dieu amie trop aimee Voyez vous point à mon dueil inportable Vostre grand tort et foy peu estimee ? Helas mon Dieu amitié perdurable D’ingrat oubly est mal recompensee J’en ay la peine et l’autre en est coulpable Helas mon Dieu qui sçavez ma pensee Soyez content que [je m'estrange]4 Mettant à fin l’euvre mal commencee [Helas mon Dieu si mon Coeur ne la change Faites au moins que mon œil mieux se garde De la chercher et que plus ne s’y renge.]5 Helas mon Dieu si ma mort tant lui tarde Ordonnez luy qu’apres ma sepulture Tard repentie elle entende et regarde Que plus ma foy que sa cruauté dure.
Confirmed with Mellin de Saint-Gelais, Œuvres poetiques, 1719.
Note (provided by David Wyatt): In line 1, modern French would have « y a-t-il »; apparently the extra ‘t’, for euphony, was invented by Saint-Gelais’s successor as ‘poet laureate’, Ronsard.
1 Chardavoine: "Dueil"2 Chardavoine: "est elle morte ? / Qui luy"
3 Chardavoine: "fruict"
4 Chardavoine: "d’elle me deporte"
5 Chardavoine:
Helas mon Dieu ce cas me desconforte Que mon cœur gist en bien povre asseurance Mon desir croist et l’esperance est morte. Helas mon Dieu puis que perseverance Ny loyauté ny ma peine trop dure N’ont proffite, meure toute esperance Helas mon Dieu si d’heureuse adventure Mort à mon mal donne fin plus retarde Je ne croi plus que par douleur on meure.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Pierre Certon (c1510 - 1572), "Helas mon Dieu y a il en ce monde" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean Chardavoine (c1537 - c1580), "Helas mon Dieu y a il en ce monde", from Recueil des voix de ville [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Clement Janequin (c1495 - c1560), "Helas mon Dieu y a il en ce monde" [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: David Wyatt
This text was added to the website: 2017-06-11
Line count: 28
Word count: 204
Alas, my God, is there in this world [Trouble]1 or pain anyone knows Which equals my deep sadness? Alas, my God, if I had the power To speak of the pain which I bear, It would greatly lessen my load. Alas, my God, [pity are you dead?]2 Who will keep me from preferring death, Since I have no other hope to comfort me? Alas, my God, the [time]3 of my waiting Are passing away like a dream or smoke, And only my sadness is permanent. Alas, my God, o beloved too loved, Do you not see in my unbearable grief Your great wrong and a loyalty too-little esteemed? Alas, my God, everlasting love Is poorly repaid by ungrateful forgetting: I have the pain, but the other is guilty of it. Alas, my God, you who know my thoughts, Be content that [I am going away]4, Putting an end to this badly-begun deed. [Alas, my God, if my heart cannot change her, At least make my eyes defend themselves better From seeking her, and wander there no more.]5 Alas, my God, if my death comes so slow, Still ordain that after my burial She, repenting too late, may hear and see That my faithfulness lasted longer than her cruelty.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Chardavoine: "Grief"
2 Chardavoine: "is pity dead?"
3 Chardavoine: "fruits"
4 Chardavoine: "she sets me aside"
5 Chardavoine:
Alas, my God, I’m uncomfortable in this position Where my heart lives with very little hope, My desire grows, and hope is dead. Alas, my God, since neither perseverance More faithfulness nor my too-harsh pains Have profited me, let all hope die. Alas, my God, if only by good fortune Death would eventually make an end of my ills! I no longer believe that men die of grief.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 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 Mellin de Saint-Gelais (1487 - 1558)
This text was added to the website: 2017-06-11
Line count: 28
Word count: 214