When I see you, my kind mistress | When I see you, my kind mistress

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Quand je vous voy, ma gentille maitresse

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Quand je vous voy, ma gentille maitresse,
Je deviens fol, sourd, muet, et sans ame,
Dedans mon sein mon pauvre coeur se pasme,
Entre surpris de joye et de tristesses.

Par tout mon chef le poil rebours se dresse,
De glace froide une fiebvre m'enflamme
Venes et nerfs: en tel estat, madame,
Je suis pour vous, quand à vous je m'adresse.

Mon oeil creint plus les vostres qu'un enfant
Ne creint la verge, ou la fille sa mere,
Et toutesfois vous ne m'estes severe

Sinon au point que l'honneur vous defend:
Mais c'est assez, puis que de ma misere
La garison d'autre part ne despend.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• G. Boni • J. Castro

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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 Guillaume Boni (c1530 - c1594), "Quand je vous voy ma gentille maitresse", published 1608 [vocal quartet], from the collection Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, I, no. 11, Paris, Pierre Ballard [
text verified 1 time
]
by Jean de Castro (c1540 - c1600), "Quand je vous voy, ma gentille maitresse" [
text verified 1 time
]

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , title 1: "When I see you, my kind mistress", 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: 105

When I see you, my kind mistress

Language: English after the French (Français)

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When I see you, my kind mistress,
I become mad, deaf, dumb, dispirited,
Within my breast my poor heart swoons
Between surfeit of joy and of sadness.

Over my whole head the hair stands upright,
A fever burns my veins and nerves
With cold ice: I am in this state, my lady,
Because of you, when I speak to you.

My eye fears yours more than a child
Fears the rod, or a daughter her mother, 
And yet you are not harsh with me

Except as far as honour demands;
But that is enough, since the cure for my despair
Does not depend on any other.

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
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2012-07-25
Line count: 14
Word count: 106