De nuict, le bien que de jour je pourchasse 
M’advient en songe ymage du desir
Car je sens bien ma [maitresse]1 gesir
Aupres de moy, nu à nu, face à face.

Doux soupirant coup à coup je me lasse
Sentant mes flans mignardement saisir
Et au doux point [je fondz]2 tout en plaisir,
Si doucement la folastre m’embrasse

Par cet yvoyre et ces roses mon ame
En cent douceurs et se pert et [se pasme]3
Sur son tetin du mien apprivoysé

O que de bien de plaisir de merveille
Quand la baisant je me sens rebaisé:
Mourant tout las sur la levre vermeille.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Marc-Claude de Buttet, Amalthée, Sonnet 40, 1561; and P. L. Jacob's 1880 edition.

¹ P L Jacob's 1880 edition has "mignonne"
² "" : "se fond"
³ "" : "s’épâme"

Text Authorship:

• sometimes misattributed to Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)
• by Marc-Claude de Buttet (c1530 - 1586), no title, appears in Amalthée, first published 1561 [author's text checked 2 times 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?), "De nuict, le bien que de jour je pourchasse", published 1578 [ vocal quartet a cappella ], from 25 Chansons à 4 parties, Livre 3, no. 12 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (David Wyatt) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: David Wyatt

This text was added to the website: 2019-10-30
Line count: 14
Word count: 103