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Helas mon Dieu y a il en ce monde Dueil ou ennui dont on ait cognoissance Qui soit esgal à ma douleur profonde Helas mon Dieu si j’avois la puissance De declarer la peine que je porte Ce me seroit une grande allegeance. Helas mon Dieu pitié est elle morte ? Qui luy defend que mort ne me contente Puis qu’autre espoir je n’ay que me confort ? Helas mon Dieu le fruict de mon attente S’en va passant comme songe ou fumee Et ma douleur est seule permanente. Helas mon Dieu amie trop aimee Voyez vous point à mon dueil inportable Vostre grand tort et foy peu estimee ? Helas mon Dieu amitié perdurable D’ingrat oubly est mal recompensee J’en ay la peine et l’autre en est coulpable Helas mon Dieu qui sçavez ma pensee Soyez content que d’elle me deporte Mettant à fin l’euvre mal commencee Helas mon Dieu ce cas me desconforte Que mon cœur gist en bien povre asseurance Mon desir croist et l’esperance est morte. Helas mon Dieu puis que perseverance Ny loyauté ny ma peine trop dure N’ont proffite, meure toute esperance Helas mon Dieu si d’heureuse adventure Mort à mon mal donne fin plus retarde Je ne croi plus que par douleur on meure. Helas mon Dieu si ma mort tant lui tarde Ordonnez luy qu’apres ma sepulture Tard repentie elle entende et regarde Que plus ma foy que sa cruauté dure.
Note (provided by David Wyatt): In line 1, modern French would have « y a-t-il »; apparently the extra ‘t’, for euphony, was invented by Saint-Gelais’s successor as ‘poet laureate’, Ronsard.
Composition:
- Set to music by Jean Chardavoine (c1537 - c1580), "Helas mon Dieu y a il en ce monde", from Recueil des voix de ville
Text Authorship:
- by Mellin de Saint-Gelais (1487 - 1558)
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: David Wyatt
This text was added to the website: 2017-06-11
Line count: 28
Word count: 204
Alas, my God, is there in this world Grief or pain anyone knows Which equals my deep sadness? Alas, my God, if I had the power To speak of the pain which I bear, It would greatly lessen my load. Alas, my God, is pity dead? Who will keep me from preferring death, Since I have no other hope to comfort me? Alas, my God, the fruits of my waiting Are passing away like a dream or smoke, And only my sadness is permanent. Alas, my God, o beloved too loved, Do you not see in my unbearable grief Your great wrong and a loyalty too-little esteemed? Alas, my God, everlasting love Is poorly repaid by ungrateful forgetting: I have the pain, but the other is guilty of it. Alas, my God, you who know my thoughts, Be content that she sets me aside, Putting an end to this badly-begun deed. Alas, my God, I’m uncomfortable in this position Where my heart lives with very little hope, My desire grows, and hope is dead. Alas, my God, since neither perseverance More faithfulness nor my too-harsh pains Have profited me, let all hope die. Alas, my God, if only by good fortune Death would eventually make an end of my ills! I no longer believe that men die of grief. Alas, my God, if my death comes so slow, Still ordain that after my burial She, repenting too late, may hear and see That my faithfulness lasted longer than her cruelty.
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Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 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 Mellin de Saint-Gelais (1487 - 1558)
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This text was added to the website: 2017-06-11
Line count: 28
Word count: 214