A gloomy fog | A gloomy fog, spread along the horizon

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Un voile obscur

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CHI ENG

Un voile obscur par l'horizon épars 
Troublait le ciel d'une humeur survenue, 
Et l'air crevé d'une grêle menue 
Frappait à bonds les champs de toutes parts; 

Déjà Vulcain de ses borgnes soudars 
Hâtait les mains à la forge connue, 
Et Jupiter dans le creux d'une nue 
Armait sa main de l'éclair de ses dards;
 
[Quand]¹ ma nymphette, en simple vertugade 
Cueillant les fleurs, des rais de son œillade 
Essuya l'air grêleux et pluvieux, 

Des vents sortis remprisonna les tropes, 
Et fit cesser les marteaux des Cyclopes, 
Et de Jupin rasséréna les yeux.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Leguerney

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Leguerney: "Lors"

Text Authorship:

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), appears in L'amour de Cassandre , no. 20 [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 Jacques Leguerney (1906 - 1997), "Un voile obscur", 1944, published 1986, first performed 1985 [ dramatic soprano or mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Poèmes de la Pléiade, Vol. IV, no. 1, Max Eschig [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CHI Chinese (中文) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , "弥漫之纱", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (David Wyatt) , "A gloomy fog", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-06-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 93

A gloomy fog

Language: English after the French (Français)

A gloomy fog, spread along the horizon,
Troubled the sky with its unexpected mood,
And the air, bursting with a light shower, 
Rushed upon the fields on every side;

Already Vulcan with his disreputable troop
Was hastily setting to work at his well-known forge,
And Jupiter, in the hollow of a cloud,
Was arming himself with the lightning of his bolts;

When my little nymph, in simple virtue 
Picking flowers, with a look of her eyes
Swept away the showery and rainy air,

Re-imprisoned the whirling of the escaped winds,
Stopped the hammers of the Cyclopes,
And calmed the eyes of Jove again.

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), appears in L'amour de Cassandre , no. 20
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2012-07-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 103