by
Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)
Amour, dy moy de grace
See original
Language: French (Français)
Amour, dy moy de grace, (ainsi de tous humains,
Et des dieux soit tousjours l'empire entre tes mains)
Qui te fournist de fleches,
Veu que tousjours colere en mill' et mille lieus,
Tu perds tes traitz ès coeurs des hommes et des Dieus
Empennez de flammeches?
Mais je te pry dy moy, est-ce point le Dieu Mars,
Quand il revient chargé du butin des soudars
Occis à la bataille?
Ou bien si c'est Vulcan qui dedans ses fourneaus
(Apres les tiens perduz) t'en refaict des nouveaus,
Et tous-jours t’en rebaille !
Pauvret (respond Amour), et quoy ignores tu,
La rigueur, la douceur, la force et la vertu
Des beaus yeus de t'amie?
Plus je repens de traitz sur hommes et sur Dieus,
Et plus en un moment m'en fournissement les yeus
De ta belle Marie.
Composition:
Set to music by Didier Le Blanc (flourished 16th century), "Amour, dy moy de grace"
Text Authorship:
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "Love, tell me, for pity's sake", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 140
Language: English  after the French (Français)
Love, tell me, for pity's sake thus all humans
and gods alike are always in your realm,
who supplies thy arrows,
since thou goest about, always angry, in thousands upon thousands of places
and loosest thy flame-fletched shafts into the hearts of men and gods?
I pray thee, tell me, is it not the god Mars,
when he comes back loaded with the booty of soldiers
dead in battle?
Or is it Vulcan, who makes thee new ones in his forge
(when thou losest thine old ones)
and always gives them thee back?
Poor little one (Love replied), dost thou not know
The harshness, the sweetness, the force and the power
of thy lover's sweet eyes?
The more I loose my shafts against men and gods,
the more of them, in a moment, thy lovely Marie's eyes
supply me again.
Changes made by Le Blanc supplied in English by David Wyatt:
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Faith J. Cormier, (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:
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 17
Word count: 140