Lorsqu’une femme, après trop de tendresse D’un homme sent la trahison Comment, pour cette si douce foiblesse Peut-elle trouver une guérison ? Le seul remède qu’elle peut resentir, La seule revanche pour son tort, Pour faire trop tard l’amant repentir Hélas ! trop tard -- est la mort !
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with John Timbs, Lives of Wits and Humourists, London: Richard Bentley, 1862, volume 2, page 312.
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author ( Ségur? ) , first published 1719 [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):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Oliver Goldsmith (1730 - 1774) , no title, appears in The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale ; composed by Samuel Hans Adler.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2024-07-05
Line count: 8
Word count: 45
When lovely woman stoops to folly, And finds too late that men betray, What charm can soothe her melancholy, What art can wash her guilt away? The only art her guilt to cover, To hide her shame from every eye, To give repentance to her lover, And wring his bosom — is to die.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale, Edinburgh: Oliver & Co., 1806, page 38, quoted as a "little melancholy air your Papa was so fond of" and sung by Olivia.
Text Authorship:
- by Oliver Goldsmith (1730 - 1774), no title, appears in The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , first published 1719
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Samuel Hans Adler (b. 1928), "Song", published 1978 [ high voice and piano ], from Three songs about love : to texts by early English poets, no. 3, Hinshaw Music, Chapel Hill, N.C. [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2024-07-05
Line count: 8
Word count: 54