What use is desire | What use is desire

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Mais de quoy sert le désirer

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Mais de quoy sert le desirer,
Sinon pour l'homme martirer?
Le désir n'est rien que martire.
Car content n'est le désireux.
[Mais]¹ l'homme mort est bien heureux :
Heureux qui plus rien ne desire.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Arcadelt

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Arcadelt, Clereau: "Et"

Text Authorship:

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Mais de quoy sert le désirer" [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 Jacob (aka Jacques or Jachet) Arcadelt (c1505 - c1568), "Mais de quoy sert le désirer" [ sung text checked 2 times]
by Pierre Cléreau (c1515 - 1569), "Mais de quoy sert le désirer" [ sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , "What use is desire", 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: 6
Word count: 34

What use is desire

Language: English after the French (Français)

What use is desire
Except to torture man?
Desire is nothing but torture
For the man who desires is never content.
[But]¹ a dead man is fortunate:
Fortunate he who no longer desires anything.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Arcadelt, Clereau: "And"

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), "Mais de quoy sert le désirer"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2012-07-25
Line count: 6
Word count: 35