Say mistress, eh? what have I done to you?

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Dites, maitresse, hé que vous ay‑je...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Dites, maitresse, hé que vous ay-je fait !
Hé pourquoy, las ! m’estes vous si cruelle ?
Ay-je failly de vous estre fidelle,
Ay-je envers vous commis quelque forfait ?

Dites, maitresse, hé que vous ay-je fait !
Hé pourquoy, las ! m’estes vous si cruelle ?
Ay-je failly de vous estre fidelle,
Ay-je envers vous commis quelque forfait ?

Certes nenny, car plustost que de faire
Chose qui deust tant soit peu vous desplaire,
J’aymerois mieux le trespas encourir.

Mais je vois bien que vous bruslez d’envie
De me tuer : faites moy donc mourir
Puis qu’il plaist, car à vous est ma vie.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• P. Monte

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes
Note: the second stanza is the same as the first, perhaps to give the poem enough lines to be an "official" sonnet.

Text Authorship:

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title [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 Anthoine de Bertrand (1540? - 1581?), "Dites maistresse hé que vous ay-je fait ?", published 1578 [ vocal quartet a cappella ], from Les Amours de Pierre de Ronsard à 4 parties, Livre 2, no. 10 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Nicolas Millot (d. c1590), "Dites maistresse hé que vous ay-je fait ?" [sung text checked 1 time]
by Philippe de Monte (1521 - 1603), "Dites maistresse et que vous ay-je fait ?" [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in French (Français), [adaptation] ; composed by Théodore Gouvy.

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: David Wyatt

This text was added to the website: 2014-10-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 96

Say mistress, eh? what have I done to...

Language: English after the French (Français)

Say mistress, eh? what have I done to you?
And why, alas, are you so cruel to me?
Have I failed to be true to you,
Have I committed some wrong towards you?

Certainly not, for rather than do
Anything which would, in however small a way, displease you,
I would prefer to incur death.

But I can see very well that you are burning with the desire
To kill me;  make me die, then,
Since it pleases you, for my life is yours.

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2014 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
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-10-27
Line count: 10
Word count: 84