Whoever wishes to see a god overcoming me | Whoever wishes to see a god overcoming me

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Qui voudra voir comme un Dieu me...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Qui voudra voir comme un Dieu me surmonte, 
Comme il m'assaut, comme il se fait vainqueur, 
Comme il renflamme et renglace mon coeur, 
Comme il reçoit un honneur de ma honte;
 
Qui voudra voir une jeunesse prompte, 
Qui voudra voir un sujet de malheur, 
Me vienne lire; il lira ma douleur, 
Dont ma maîtresse et Amour ne font compte; 

Il connaîtra que faible est la raison 
Contre son trait, quand sa douce poison 
Corrompt le sang, tant le mal nous enchante;
 
Et connaîtra que je suis trop heureux 
D'être en mourant nouveau cygne amoureux, 
Qui son obsèque à soi-même se chante.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title, appears in L'amour de Cassandre , no. 1 [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?), "Qui voudra voir comme un Dieu me surmonte", 1576, published 1578 [ vocal quartet a cappella ], from Les Amours de Pierre de Ronsard à 4 parties, Livre 1, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]

Set in a modified version by Frank Martin.

Go to the text. [ view differences ] ENG

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , "Whoever wishes to see a god overcoming me", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-06-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 101

Whoever wishes to see a god overcoming me

Language: English after the French (Français)

 Whoever wishes to see a god overcoming me,
 assailing me, vanquishing me,
 making my heart flame and freeze repeatedly,
 and gaining honour from my shame;
 
 whoever wishes to see an eager young man,
 whoever wishes to see a subject of misery -
 let him come and read my words: he will read of my suffering,
 of which my mistress and Love take no account.
 
 He will learn that reason is feeble
 In the face of its wounds, when its sweet poison
 corrupts his blood, so much does its pain enchant us;
 
 and he will learn that I am so very fortunate
 to be as I die a new swan-in-love,
 singing his own funeral song for himself.

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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title, appears in L'amour de Cassandre , no. 1
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-01-14
Line count: 14
Word count: 115