Chanson de Thibaut
See originalLanguage: French (Français) after the Old French (Ancien français)
Las ! si j'avois pouvoir d'oublier
Sa beauté, sa beauté, son bien dire,
Et son très-doux, très-doux regarder,
Finirois mon martyre :
Mais las ! mon cœur je n'en puis ôter,
Et grand affolage
à moi d'espérer :
Mais tel servage
Donne courage
A tout endurer.
Et puis, comment, comment oublier
Sa beauté, sa beauté, son bien dire,
Et son très-doux, très-doux regarder ?
Mieux aime mon martyre.
Note: Reber uses modernized spellings in lines 1 ("j'avais") and 4 ("Finirais").
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2014-07-10
Line count: 14
Word count: 63
Language: English after the French (Français)
Alas! had I the power to forget
Her beauty, her beauty, her fine speech,
And her sweetest, sweetest gaze,
I could end my torment;
But alas! I cannot tear my heart away from her,
And a great folly
Hope is to me;
But such servitude
Imparts courage
To endure everything.
And what's more, how, how to forget
Her beauty, her beauty, her fine speech,
And her sweetest, sweetest gaze?
I prefer my torment.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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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This text was added to the website: 2026-03-29
Line count: 14
Word count: 73
