The first age of man is called Infancy

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

L'Age premier de l'homme Enfance est...

Language: Middle French after the Middle French

Our translations: ENG

L'Age premier de l'homme Enfance est appellé ;
Son cours est de quatre ans, maistrisé par la lune ;
Auquel il s'agrandit, desja serf de fortune,
Humide, delicat, d'ignorance voilé.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Œuvres complètes de P. de Ronsard, Tome VI, Paris: Librairie A. Franck, 1866, page 419.

Text Authorship:

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Enfance", appears in Gayetez et Epigrammes, in Sur les sept âges de l'homme, no. 1 [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Middle French by Claude Gruget (d. c1560) [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Spanish (Español) by Pero Mexia (1497 - 1551) [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Jack Ledru (1922 - 2013), "L'Enfance", 2010, first performed 2011 [ medium voice and piano ], from Sur les Sept Âges de l'homme, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-16
Line count: 4
Word count: 28

The first age of man is called Infancy

Language: English after the Middle French

The first age of man is called Infancy;
Its course is four years long, ruled by the moon;
During which he grows, already a slave to fortune, 
Wet, frail, veiled in ignorance.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Enfance" = "Infancy"
"L'Enfance" = "Infancy"

Text Authorship:

Translation from Middle French to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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 Middle French by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Enfance", appears in Gayetez et Epigrammes, in Sur les sept âges de l'homme, no. 1 [an adaptation]
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Middle French by Claude Gruget (d. c1560) [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Spanish (Español) by Pero Mexia (1497 - 1551) [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-18
Line count: 4
Word count: 32