I can feel my thirst coming on

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by François Villon (1431 - 1463)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Je cognoys approcher ma soef

Language: Middle French

Our translations: ENG

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

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• R. Laparra

About the headline (FAQ)

View text without footnotes

Confirmed 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 [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

Language: English after the Middle French

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

Available sung text translations: ← What is this?

• R. Laparra

About the headline (FAQ)

View text without footnotes

Translations of titles:
"Je cognoys approcher ma soef" = "I can feel my thirst coming on"

¹ Laparra: "a tennis ball"
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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Middle French by François Villon (1431 - 1463), no title
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-08
Line count: 8
Word count: 64