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Vu le soin ménager dont travaillé je suis, Vu l'importun souci qui sans fin me tourmente, Et vu tant de regrets desquels je me lamente, Tu t'ébahis souvent comment chanter je puis. Je ne chante, Magny, je pleure mes ennuis, Ou, pour le dire mieux, en pleurant je les chante ; Si bien qu'en les chantant, souvent je les enchante : Voilà pourquoi, Magny, je chante jours et nuits. Ainsi chante l'ouvrier en faisant son ouvrage, Ainsi le laboureur faisant son labourage, Ainsi le pèlerin regrettant sa maison, Ainsi l'aventurier en songeant à sa dame, Ainsi le marinier en tirant à la rame, Ainsi le prisonnier maudissant sa prison.
M. Delannoy sets stanzas 2-4
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Joachim du Bellay (1525 - c1560), no title, appears in Les Regrets, no. 12 [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 Marcel Delannoy (1898 - 1962), "Je ne chante", 1930, published 1931, first performed 1932, stanzas 2-4 [ medium voice and piano or orchestra ], from Quatre regrets de J. Du Bellay, no. 3, Éd. Durand [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michèle Reverdy (b. 1943), "Les Regrets", 2009, first performed 2010 [ voice and piano ], from De l'ironie contre l'absurdité du monde, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Stanfield Prichard) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2017-04-17
Line count: 14
Word count: 107
In view of the housework I have to do, In view of the persistent worry that endlessly torments me, And in view of so many regrets over which I lament, You often marvel at how I can chant. I don’t sing, Magny, I weep over my troubles, Or, to put it better, while weeping I chant them; So well that in chanting them, I often enchant them: That is why, Magny, I chant day and night. Thus chants the worker while doing his work, Thus the laborer doing his labor, Thus the pilgrim missing his home, Thus the adventurer while dreaming of his lady, Thus the mariner while pulling at the oar, Thus the prisoner cursing his prison.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Je ne chante" = "I don't sing"
"Les Regrets" = "Regrets"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Middle French to English copyright © 2025 by Laura Stanfield Prichard, (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 Middle French by Joachim du Bellay (1525 - c1560), no title, appears in Les Regrets, no. 12
This text was added to the website: 2025-10-21
Line count: 14
Word count: 118