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Ne reprenez, Dames, si i'ay aymé : Si i'ay senti mile torches ardantes, Mile trauaus, mile douleurs mordantes : Si en pleurant, i'ay mon tems consumé, Las que mon nom n'en soit par vous blamé. Si i'ay failli, les peines sont presentes, N'aigrissez point leurs pointes violentes : Mais estime qu'Amour, à point nommé, Sans votre ardeur d'un Vulcan excuser, Sans la beauté d'Adonis acuser. Pourra, s'il veut, plus vous rendre amoureuses : En ayant moins que moy d'ocasion, Et plus d'estrange & forte passion. Et gardez vous d'estre plus malheureuses.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Œuvres de Louise Labé, texte établi par Charles Boy, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1887, page 107.
Text Authorship:
- by Louise Labé (1526 - 1566), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 24 [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 Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Ne reprenez, Dames, si j’ai aimé", op. 206 no. 2 (2006) [ high voice, guitar, and mandole ], from Le Jardin de Louise Labé, Suite, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernst Alexander 'Sas' Bunge (1924 - 1980), "Sonnet XXIV", published 1951 [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois airs, sur des poèmes de Louise Labé, no. 2, Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Lex Zwaap (1919 - 1988), as Lex van Delden, "Sonnet XXIV", op. 1 no. 2 (1937) [ soprano, flute, clarinet, and string trio ], from L'amour, 4 liederen en 3 interludes, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926) , no title, appears in Die vierundzwanzig Sonette der Louize Labé, Lyoneserin : 1555, no. 24, Leipzig, Insel-Verlag, first published 1917 ; composed by Grete von Zieritz.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-06
Line count: 14
Word count: 87
Don’t censure me for loving, ladies, please. It’s true I’ve felt a thousand searing pains, the tortures of a thousand torches’ flames; I’ve squandered months in sobs and miseries. But let your words of blame be soft and few - if I’ve done wrong, I’m being punished now, I don’t need extra coals heaped on my brow. And think: tomorrow any one of you, without a Vulcan to excuse your fire or an Adonis to induce desire, could fall a prey to playful Cupid’s curse, smitten with even stronger, stranger passion than I have known, though having less occasion. And watch out lest you suffer even worse!
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 by Peter Low, (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 Louise Labé (1526 - 1566), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 24
This text was added to the website: 2022-07-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 106