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Les Cieux inexorables Me sont si rigoureux, Que les plus misérables, Se comparant à moi, se trouveraient heureux. Mon lit est de mes larmes Trempé toute les nuits, Et ne peuvent ses charmes, Lors mêmes que je dors, endormir mes ennuis. Si je fais quelque songe, J'en suis épouvanté ; Car, même son mensonge Exprime de mes maux la triste verité. Tout paix, toute joie A pris de moi congé, Laissant mon âme en proie A cent mille soucis dont mon cœur est rongé. L'ingratitude paye Ma fidelle amitié : La calomnie essaye A rendre mes tourmens indignes de pitié. En un cruel orage On me laisse périr ; Et courant au naufrage, Je vois chacun me plaindre, & nul me secourir. Et ce qui rend plus dure La misere où je vi, C'est ès maux que j'endure, La mémoire de l'heur que le Ciel m'a ravi. Félicité passée, Qui ne peux revenir, Tourment de ma pensée, Que n'ai-je en te perdant perdu le souvenir !
J. Leguerney sets stanzas 1-2, 8
A. Dethou sets stanza 8
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Annales poétiques, depuis l'origine de la poésie françoise, Tome 13, Paris, chez les Editeurs, rue Saint-Nicaise, vis-à-vis le Magalin de l'Opéra ; et chez Delalain l'aîné, Libraire, rue Saint-Jacques, 1779, pages 31-32
See also Bertaut's Complainte, in which the refrain is the same as this poem's final stanza.
Text Authorship:
- by Jean Bertaut (1552 - 1611), "Chanson" [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 Amédée Dethou (1811 - 1877), "Félicité passée", published [1859], stanza 8 [ high voice and piano ], from Douze mélodies sur des poësies de Victor Hugo et de Ronsard, Bertaut, Desportes et Passerat, Poëtes du XVIè siècle, no. 3, Paris, Imprimerie Bouchard [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques Leguerney (1906 - 1997), "Chanson triste", 1944, published 1986, stanzas 1-2,8 [ soprano and piano ], from Poèmes de la Pléiade, Vol. V, no. 2, Paris, Max Eschig [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Victor Massé (1822 - 1884), "Félicité passée" [ medium voice and piano ], from Chants d'autrefois: recueil des premières mélodies de V. Massé, no. 2, Éditions Léon Grus [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , "Sad song", copyright © 2013, (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: 32
Word count: 162
The inexorable heavens Are so harsh to me That the most wretched, comparing themselves to me, would think themselves happy. My bed is soaked Every night with my tears; And its charms cannot Even while I sleep, make my torment sleep. Past happiness Which cannot return, Torment of my thoughts, Why could I not, in losing you, lose the memories!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2013 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 Jean Bertaut (1552 - 1611), "Chanson"
This text was added to the website: 2013-05-07
Line count: 12
Word count: 60