The less I see her | The less I see her, the more I hate her

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by Maurice Scève (1510 - 1564)

Translation © by Laura L. Nagle

Moins je la vois, certes plus je la hais

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

  Moins je la vois, certes plus je la hais ;
Plus je la hais, et moins elle me fâche.
Plus je l'estime, et moins compte j'en fais ;
Plus je la fuis, plus veux qu'elle me sache.
  En un moment deux divers traits me lâche,
Amour et haine, ennui avec plaisir.
  Forte est l'amour qui lors me vient saisir
Quand haine vient et vengeance me crie ;
Ainsi me fait haïr mon vain désir
Celle pour qui mon coeur toujours me prie.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Maurice Scève (1510 - 1564), "Moins je la vois certes, plus je la hais", appears in Délie, Objet de plus haute vertu, no. 43 [author's text not yet checked 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 Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974), "Moins je la vois", op. 409 no. 5 (1964), published 1966 [ soprano and piano ], from L'amour chante, no. 5, Bryn Mawr, Theodore Presser and Co. [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Laura L. Nagle) , "The less I see her", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Laura L. Nagle

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 80

The less I see her

Language: English after the French (Français)

The less I see her, the more I hate her;
The more I hate her, the less she angers me.
The more I esteem her, the less I notice her;
The more I flee from her, the more I want her to hold on to me.
   At once, two different arrows are shot at me:
Love and hate, boredom along with pleasure.
   Strong is the love that comes then to seize me
When hate comes and vengeance cries out to me;
Thus my vain desire makes me hate
Her for whom my heart still beseeches me.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2006 by Laura L. Nagle, (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 Maurice Scève (1510 - 1564), "Moins je la vois certes, plus je la hais", appears in Délie, Objet de plus haute vertu, no. 43
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2007-01-11
Line count: 10
Word count: 96