Nothing is sweet but love, no goods are so dear

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.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by André Chénier (1762 - 1794)

Translation © by Anyi Sharma

Rien n'est doux que l'amour, aucun bien...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Rien n'est doux que l'amour, aucun bien n'est si cher.
Près de lui le miel même à la bouche est amer.
Celle qui n'aime point Vénus sur toutes choses,
Elle ne connaît pas quelles fleurs sont les roses...

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by André Chénier (1762 - 1794), no title, appears in Bucoliques. Idylles et fragments d'idylles, no. 67 [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 André-Marie Cuvelier , "L'amour", 1945 [ medium voice and piano ], from Chansons pour Hélène, 13ème recueil, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Albéric Magnard (1865 - 1914), "Rien n’est doux que l’amour (Epigramme III)", op. 22 no. 1 (1913-1914) [ voice and piano ], from Douze poèmes en musique, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Anyi Sharma) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2016-05-27
Line count: 4
Word count: 38

Nothing is sweet but love, no goods are...

Language: English after the French (Français)

Nothing is sweet but love, no goods are so dear.
Next to love, even honey tastes bitter.
The one who does not love Venus over all things,
She cannot tell which flowers are roses…

About the headline (FAQ)

Translator's notes
Line 1: “Cher” means “dear” in the sense of “expensive” or “costly"
Line 2: literally, "even in the mouth is bitter"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Anyi Sharma, (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 André Chénier (1762 - 1794), no title, appears in Bucoliques. Idylles et fragments d'idylles, no. 67
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-10-02
Line count: 4
Word count: 34