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Genièvres hérissés, et vous, houx épineux L'un hôte des déserts, et l'autre d'un bocage ; Lierre, le tapis d'un bel antre sauvage, Sources qui bouillonnez d'un surgeon sablonneux ; Pigeons qui vous baisez d'un baiser savoureux Tourtres qui lamentez d'un éternel veuvage. Rossignols ramagers qui d'un plaisant langage Nuit et jour rechantez vos versets amoureux ; Vous, à la gorge rouge, étrangère arondelle. Si vous voyez [aller ma Nymphe]1 en ce printemps Pour cueillir des bouquets par cette herbe nouvelle, Dites-lui pour néant que sa grâce j'attends, Et que, pour ne souffrir le mal que j'ai pour elle, J'ai mieux aimé mourir que languir si longtemps.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotes1 Leguerney: "ma Nymphe aller"
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), 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 Robert Caby (1905 - 1992), "Genièvres hérissés, et vous houx épineux", 1956 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Elisabeth Claisse (1902 - 1997), "Complainte", 1923, published [1923] [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Édition B. Roudanez [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques Leguerney (1906 - 1997), "Genièvres hérissés", 1943, published 1950 [ voice and piano ], from Poèmes de la Pléiade, Vol. I, no. 2, Editions Salabert [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , "Bristling junipers", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Humbert Wolfe) , no title, first published 1934
Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2011-06-01
Line count: 14
Word count: 104
Bristling junipers and you prickly holly One the guest of deserts, the other of the copse; Ivy, the carpet of a fine wild cave And springs which bubble from sandy roots You wood-pigeons who relish your kisses You doves who lament in eternal widowhood Warbling nightingales who in your charming language Sing night and day your poems of love You red-throated swallows from foreign lands: If any of you see my nymph go out this spring To cut flowers among this new growth, Tell her for nothing that I am awaiting her notice And that, rather than suffer the pain that I have for her, I would rather die than pine away for so long.
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), no title
This text was added to the website: 2012-06-06
Line count: 14
Word count: 115