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Je cognoys approcher ma soef, Je crache, blanc comme cotton, Jacobins [aussi gros qu'ung œf]1. Qu'est ce à dire ? [Quoy ? Jehanneton Plus ne me tiens]2 pour valeton ; Mais pour ung vieil usé [roquart]3. De vieil, porte voix et le ton, Et ne suys q'ung jeune coquart.4
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with J.-H.-R. Prompsault, ed., Oeuvres de maistre François Villon Paris: Béthune, 1832, page 157.
1 Laparra: "gros comme ung estoeuf"2 Laparra: "Que Jehanneton/ Plus ne me tient"
3 Laparra: "regnart"
4 Laparra adds
Qu'est ce à dire ? Que Jehanneton Plus ne me tient pour valeton. Je crache, hélas ! je crache...
Text Authorship:
- by François Villon (1431 - 1463), no title [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 Raoul Laparra (1876 - 1943), "Je cognoys approcher ma soef", published 1925 [ low voice and piano ], from Le Missel Chantant, Suite de mélodies sur de vieilles poésies françaises - 6ème volume, no. 11, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel
Score: IMSLP [external link] [sung text checked 1 time]
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: 2026-07-08
Line count: 8
Word count: 52
I can feel my thirst coming on, I spit, white as cotton, Gobs of phlegm the size of [an egg]1. What's there to say? [What? Dear Jeanne, Don't]2 think of me any longer as a young man, But as an old, worn-out [geezer]3. I have an old man's voice and tone, And yet I'm just a young dandy.4
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesTranslations of titles:
"Je cognoys approcher ma soef" = "I can feel my thirst coming on"
2 Laparra: "Dear Jeanne/ Shouldn't"
3 Laparra: "fox"
4 Laparra adds
What's there to say? Dear Jeanne Shouldn't think of me any longer as a young man. I spit, alas ! I spit...
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.
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Based on:
- a text in Middle French by François Villon (1431 - 1463), no title
This text was added to the website: 2026-07-08
Line count: 8
Word count: 64