Page, follow me | Page, follow me through the thickest grass

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

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

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Page, suis‑moi

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

[ Page suy moy: par l'herbe plus espesse ;
Fausche l'esmail ]¹ de la verte saison,
Puis à plein poing en-jonche la maison
Des fleurs qu'avril enfante en sa jeunesse.

Despen du croc ma lyre chanteresse :
Je veux charmer, si je puis, la poison
Dont un bel œil enchanta ma raison
Par la vertu d'une oeillade maistresse.

Donne-moy l'encre et le papier aussi :
En cent papiers, tesmoins de mon soucy,
Je veux tracer la peine que j'endure;

En cent papiers plus durs que diamant,
Afin qu'un jour nostre race future
Juge du mal que je souffre en aimant.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ variant: "Fauche, garcon, d'une main pilleresse, / Le bel esmail"

Text Authorship:

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Page, suis moi" [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 Louis Théodore Gouvy (1819 - 1898), "Page, suis-moi", published 1876 [ voice and piano ], from 40 Poèmes de Ronsard, no. 24, Paris, Éd Simon Richault [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , "Page, follow me", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: David Wyatt

This text was added to the website: 2012-07-25
Line count: 14
Word count: 97

Page, follow me

Language: English after the French (Français)

[Page, follow me through the thickest grass;
Scythe down the jewels ]¹ of the fresh season,
Then scatter in the house fistfuls
Of the flowers that April has borne in her youth.

Take down from its hook my singing lyre;
I want to charm away, if I can, the poison
With which a fair eye has enchanted my reason
Through the power of a masterful² glance.

Give me ink and paper too:
On a hundred sheets, witnesses of my cares,
I want to set out the trouble I'm enduring;

On a hundred sheets harder than diamond,
So that one day in the future our countrymen
Can judge the harm I suffer from being in love.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ variant: "Scythe, my boy, with a pillaging hand, / the fair jewels"
² in French, Ronsard can pun on "masterful" and "mistress"; in English we'd have to say "mistress-ful"

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), "Page, suis moi"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2012-07-25
Line count: 14
Word count: 115