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Je [meurs, Paschal]1, quand je la vois si belle Le front si beau, et la bouche et les yeux, Yeux le [logis]2 d'amour victorieux Qui m'a blessé d'une flèche nouvelle. Je n'ai ni sang, ni veine, ni moelle, Qui ne se change : et me semble qu'aux cieux Je suis ravi, assis entre les dieux, Quand le bonheur me conduit auprès d'elle. Ah ! que ne suis-je en ce monde un grand roi ! Elle serait [ma reine]3 auprès de moi : Mais n'étant rien, il faut que je m'absente De sa beauté, dont je n'ose approcher Que d'un regard transformer je ne sente Mes yeux en fleuve et mon cœur en rocher.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotes1 Bertrand: "meurs helas"
2 Bertrand: "sejour"
3 Bertrand: "toujours"
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 Anthoine de Bertrand (1540? - 1581?), "Je meurs helas, quand je la vois", first performed 1576 [ vocal quartet a cappella ], from 25 Chansons à 4 parties, Livre 3, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Anthoine de Bertrand (1540? - 1581?), "Je meurs, helas, quand je la voy si belle", published 1578 [ vocal quartet a cappella ], from Les Amours de Pierre de Ronsard à 4 parties, Livre 2, no. 21 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Théodore Gouvy (1819 - 1898), "Je meurs, hélas", op. 42 (Six Poésies de Ronsard) no. 1, published 1876 [ voice and piano ], from 40 Poèmes de Ronsard, no. 10, Paris, Éd Simon Richault [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , "I die, Paschal, when I see her looking so lovely", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-10-28
Line count: 14
Word count: 113
I [die, Paschal]1, when I see her looking so lovely Her brow so fine, her lips and eyes, Her eyes the home of conquering love Who has wounded me with his latest arrow. I have neither blood nor vein nor marrow Which is not changed, and it seems that to heaven I've been swept up, sat between the gods, When good fortune brings me near to her. O that I could be a great king in this world! She should be [my queen]2 beside me -- But being nothing I have to take myself away From her beauty which I dare not approach Save when, with a transforming glance, I feel My eyes streaming with tears, my heart a stone.
1 Bertrand: "die, alas"
2 Bertrand: "always"
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: 2012-06-06
Line count: 14
Word count: 122