by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
Translation by Maurice Maeterlinck (1862 - 1949)

Bid me to live, and I will live
Language: English 
Bid me to live, and I will live
  Thy Protestant to be:
Or bid me love, and I will give
  A loving heart to thee.

A heart as soft, a heart as kind,
  A heart as sound and free,
As in the whole world thou canst find,
 That heart I'll give to thee.

[ ... ]

Bid me despair, and I'll despair,
  Under that cypress-tree:
Or bid me die, and I will dare
  E'en Death, to die for thee.

J. Carpenter sets stanzas 1-2, 5
C. Harris sets stanzas 1-2, 4, 3, 6

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 153

Language: French (Français)  after the English 
Dis-moi de vivre, et je vivrai
  Pour n'adorer que toi,
Dis-moi d'aimer, et je vous donne
  Un coeur qui n'est qu'amour;

Un coeur si pur, un coeur si sûr.
  Un coeur si plein de toi,
Qu'il n'en est pas un seul au monde,
  Qui t'aime autant que moi.

 ...

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Researcher for this page: Geoffrey Wieting

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 69