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J'espere et crain, je me tais et supplye. Or’ je suis glace et ores un feu chaut. J'admire tout et de rien ne me chaut. Je me delace et [soudain]1 me relie. Rien ne me plaist, sinon ce qui m'ennuie : Je suis vaillant et le coeur me defaut. J'ay l'espoir bas, j'ay le courage haut, Je doute Amour, et si je le deffie. Plus je me pique, et plus je suis retif. J'ayme estre libre et veux estre captif. Cent fois je meurs, cent fois je pren naissance. Un Promethée en passions je suis. Et pour aymer [perdant]2 toute puissance [Crier mercy seulement je ne puis]3.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotes1 Certon: "puis je"
2 Boni: "pendant"
3 Certon, Lassus: "Ne pouvant rien je fay ce que je puis."
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585) [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 Guillaume Boni (c1530 - c1594), "J'espere et crain, je me tais et supplie", published 1608 [ vocal quartet ], from Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, I, no. 1, Paris, Pierre Ballard [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Pierre Certon (c1510 - 1572), "J'espère et crain" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Roland de Lassus (1532 - 1594), "J'espère et crain" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jean de Maletty (flourished 16th century), "J'espere et crain, je me tais et supplye" [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , "I hope and fear", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 110
I hope and fear, I'm silent, I beg; Now I'm like ice, now like hot fire; I'm amazed at everything, and care for nothing; I relax, and [suddenly]1 get tense again2 Nothing pleases me, except what bores me; I'm courageous and my heart fails me; I have no hope, I have high hopes; I doubt Love, and even so I defy him. The more I'm goaded, the more stubborn I get; I love to be free, and want to be imprisoned; I die again & again, again & again I'm reborn. I'm like a Prometheus in my suffering3 And, [for love, from losing all strength]4 Just cannot cry 'enough'.
1 Certon: "then"
2 or, "I get undressed, then dress again"
3 in Greek myth, Prometheus had his body torn every day by an eagle, and every night his wounds healed
4 Boni: "to love through every trial"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2012 by David Wyatt, (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 French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)
This text was added to the website: 2012-05-18
Line count: 14
Word count: 113