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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)
Translation © by David Wyatt
Quand vous serez bien vieille, au soir à...
Language: French (Français)
Quand vous serez bien vieille, au soir à la chandelle, Assise aupres du feu, [devidant]1 et filant, Direz, chantant mes vers, en vous esmerveillant, Ronsard me celebroit du temps que j'estois belle. Lors vous n'aurez servante oyant telle nouvelle, Desja sous le labeur à demy sommeillant, Qui au bruit de Ronsard ne s'aille resveillant, Benissant vostre nom de louange immortelle. Je seray sous la terre, et fantaume sans os : Par les ombres Myrtheux je prendray mon repos. Vous serez au fouyer une vieille accroupie, Regrettant mon amour, et vostre fier desdain. Vivez, si m'en croyez, n'attendez à demain : Cueillez dés aujourd'huy les roses de la vie.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)See also Yeats' free adaptation, When you are old.
Modernized form of text used by Huberti and Swithinbank:
Quand vous serez bien vieille, au soir à la chandelle, Assise auprès du feu, dévidant et filant, Direz, chantant mes vers, [en]2 vous émerveillant: Ronsard me célébrait du temps que j'étais belle. Lors vous n'aurez servante oyant telle nouvelle, Déjà sous le labeur à demy sommeillant, Qui au bruit de [Ronsard]3 ne s'aille réveillant, Bénissant vôtre nom de louange immortelle. Je seray sous la terre, et fantôme sans os : Par les ombres myrteux je prendrai mon repos; Vous serez au foyer une vieille accroupie, Regrettant mon amour, et vôtre fier dédain. Vivez, si m'en croyez, n'attendez à demain : Cueillez dès aujourd'huy les roses de la vie.1 Gouvy: "devisant"
2 Huberti: "et"
3 Swithinbank: "mon nom"
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title, appears in Le Second Livre des Sonnets pour Hélène, no. 24 [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 Charles Baudouin (1877 - 1961), "Sonnet pour Hélène", published [1922] [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Nouvelle Éd. Mutuelle, H. Hérelle & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Raoul Blondel (1864 - 1944), as Raoul Brunel, "Sonnet de Ronsard", published 1925 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eugène Bouvy (1859 - 1944), "Quand vous serez bien vieille", op. 3 no. 1, published [1893] [ high voice and piano ], from Chants sur d'anciennes paroles, no. 1, Paris, Éd. 'Au comptoir général de musique' V. Durdilly [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernst Alexander 'Sas' Bunge (1924 - 1980), "À Hélène", 1944, published 1944 [ low voice and piano ], from Trois poèmes de Ronsard, no. 3, Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Caby (1905 - 1992), "Quand vous serez bien vieille", 1955 [ voice, piano, flute ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Chabot , "Sonnet de Ronsard", published 1922 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean Chatillon (1937 - 2019), "Sonnet pour Hélène", 1960 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Colas , "Quand vous serez bien vieille", published 1926 [ tenor and piano ], from Mélodies pour ténor, no. 4, Paris, Édition B. Roudanez [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roland Gérin (b. 1929), "Sonnet pour Hélène" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Théodore Gouvy (1819 - 1898), "Quand vous serez bien vieille", op. 44 (Huit Poésies de Ronsard) no. 6, published 1876 [ voice and piano ], from 40 Poèmes de Ronsard, no. 21, Paris, Éd Simon Richault [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gustave Léon Huberti (1843 - 1910), "Sonnet" [ high voice and piano ], from Huit mélodies, no. 8, Bruxelles: Schott Frères, also set in Dutch (Nederlands), also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jeanne Lacour , "A Hélène", published 1939 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georges (Géo) Menier (1880 - 1933), "Sonnet", published [1909] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques Roques (d. 1921), "Quand vous serez bien vieille", published 1893 [ voice and piano ], from Souvenirs du Conservatoire, no. 9, Paris, Éd. Gounin-Ghidone [sung text not yet checked]
- by Guido Spinetti (flourished 1897), "Sonnet pour Hélène", published 1897 [ medium voice and piano ], from Treize poésies de Ronsard, mises en musique par Guido Spinetti, et ornées par Lucien Métivet de vignettes modernes dans le goût ancien, préface de Francisque Sarcey, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Flammarion [sung text not yet checked]
- by Éric-Paul Steker (1898 - 1978), "Sonnet pour Hélène", published 1963 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 1, Nice, Éditions Georges Delrieu et Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mick Swithinbank (b. 1953), "Quand vous serez bien vieille" [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Emmanuel Hiel (1834 - 1899) ; composed by Gustave Léon Huberti.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Heinrich Ludwig Flemmich (1823 - 1890) ; composed by Gustave Léon Huberti.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Humbert Wolfe) , no title, first published 1934
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Pflücke die Rosen, so lange du kannst", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-06-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 106
When you are good and old, in the...
Language: English after the French (Français)
When you are good and old, in the evening by candlelight Sat near the fire, carding and spinning, You will say as you sing my poems while marvelling "Ronsard made me famous at the time when I was beautiful." Then you'll have just one servant to hear this news, Already half-asleep at her task, Who at the sound of 'Ronsard' will suddenly wake Congratulating you for this immortal praise. I shall be beneath the earth, a bloodless1 ghost; Among the shadows of myrtle I shall take my rest. You will be old and bent over the hearth, Regretful for my love and your proud scorn of it. So live, if you believe me2, don't wait for tomorrow; Pluck life's roses today!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 literally 'boneless'
2 or perhaps, 'So live, heed me'
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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title, appears in Le Second Livre des Sonnets pour Hélène, no. 24
This text was added to the website: 2012-07-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 121