Turn a little towards me | Turn a little towards me your pitying gaze

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by Philippe Desportes (1545 - 1606)

Translation © by Peter Low

Tourne un peu devers moy ton regard...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

  Tourne un peu devers moy ton regard pitoyable,
Soleil, pere de vie, en qui seul je m'attans;
Sers de guide à mes sens esgarez et flottans
Par les bancs perilleux du monde miserable.
  Purge et guari mon ame, helas ! presque incurable !
Prive mon cœur troublé de desirs inconstans
Et d'espoirs enchanteurs, qui m'ont faict si long-tans
Battre l'air, peindre en l'onde et fonder sur le sable.
  Je cognoy bien ma faute et la vay maudissant;
Mais pour m'en garentir je me trouve impuissant,
Le monde en ses erreurs trop encore m'enserre.
  Si l'esprit quelquefois veut s'eslever aux cieux,
Tousjours derriere moy je retourne les yeux,
Comme la femme à Lot ayant quitté sa terre.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Philippe Desportes (1545 - 1606), "Sonnet X" [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 Hendrik Andriessen (1892 - 1981), "Tourne un peu devers moi", from Trois sonnets spirituels, no. 2. [
text not verified
]

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

ENG English (Peter Low) , title 1: "Turn a little towards me", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-07-06
Line count: 14
Word count: 115

Turn a little towards me

Language: English after the French (Français)

       Turn a little towards me your pitying gaze,
oh Lord, sun, father of life, in whom alone I hope;
serve as a guide to my lost and straying senses
among the perilous sandbars of this miserable world.
       Purge and heal my soul which (alas) is nearly past curing,
strip my troubled heart of all the inconstant desires
and enchanting hopes which for so long had me vainly
beating the air, painting the water, and building on the sand.
       I well know my sinfulness and continually curse it,
yet I find I am incapable of protecting myself from it;
the world and all its errors still grip me too tightly.
       Though my spirit sometimes wishes to rise to the heavens,
I always keep turning my gaze behind me,
as Lot's wife did after they had fled from his land.

Line 14 contains a Biblical allusion to Gen. 19:26

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2010 by Peter Low, (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 Philippe Desportes (1545 - 1606), "Sonnet X"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2010-07-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 139