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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)
Translation © by David Wyatt

Si trop souvent quand le désir me presse
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG
Si trop souvent quand le désir me presse,
Tout affamé de vivre de vos yeux,
[Pleureux]1, honteux, pensif et soucieux,
Devant votre huis, je repasse maîtresse.

Pardonnez-moi ma mortelle déesse,
Si malgré moi je vous suis ennuyeux,
Malgré moi non car j'aime beaucoup mieux,
Sans vous fâcher, trépasser de tristesse,

Las si je passe et passe si souvent,
Auprès de vous fantastique et révant,
C'est pour embler un trait de votre vue,

Qui fait ma vie en mon corps séjourner.
Permettez donc que l'âme soit repue
D'un bien qui n'est moindre pour le donner.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   G. Boni 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Boni: "Paureux"

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), "Si trop souvent quand le desir me presse", published 1607 [vocal quartet], from the collection Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, II, no. 14, Paris, Pierre Ballard [
     text verified 1 time
    ]
  • by Philippe de Monte (1521 - 1603), "Si trop souvent" [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

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

  • ENG English (David Wyatt) , title 1: "If too often", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: John Versmoren

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 96

If too often
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
If too often when desire is pressing,
Starved by living on your eyes alone,
[Tearful]1, ashamed, pensive and worried
I walk back and forth before your gates, my mistress,

Pardon me then, my mortal goddess;
And [pardon me] if despite myself I irritate you,
Despite myself – no – for I would much prefer
To die of sadness without annoying you;

Alas, if I pass and re-pass so often
Close by you, fantastical and dreaming,
It is to steal a drink of the sight of you

To make my life stay on in my body.
Allow my soul, then, to be sated
With a good which is not less for the giving.

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Boni: "Fearful"

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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: 2012-07-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 114

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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