My mad thoughts, to fly higher | My mad thoughts, to fly higher

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Mon fol penser, pour s'en‑voler plus...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Mon fol penser, pour s'en-voler plus haut 
Après le bien que hautain je desire, 
S'est emplumé d'ailes jointes de cire, 
Propres à fondre aux rais du premier chaud. 

Luy fait oiseau, dispost, de saut en saut 
Poursuit en vain l'object de son martyre, 
Et toy, qui peux et luy dois contredire, 
Tu le vois bien, Raison, et ne t'en chaut. 

Sous la clarté d'une estoille si belle 
Cesse, Penser, de hazarder ton aile, 
Ains que te voir en bruslant desplumer : 

Car, pour esteindre une ardeur si cuisante, 
L'eau de mes yeux ne seroit suffisante, 
Ny suffisans tous les flots de la mer.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title [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 Guillaume Boni (c1530 - c1594), "Mon fol penser pour s'envoler plus haut", published 1608 [vocal quartet], from the collection Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, I, no. 23, Paris, Pierre Ballard [
text verified 1 time
]

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , title 1: "My mad thoughts, to fly higher", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: David Wyatt

This text was added to the website: 2015-02-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 102

My mad thoughts, to fly higher

Language: English after the French (Français)

My mad thoughts, to fly higher
After the good things I haughtily desire,
Have winged themselves with feathers joined by wax
Suited to melting in the rays of the first heat.

Made into a bird, alert, bound after bound
They pursue in vain the object of their torture;
And you, who can and ought to tell them no,
You see this clearly, Reason, and care not at all.

Beneath the shining of a star so fair
Cease, my thoughts, from risking your wings
Lest you see yourselves burning and un-feathered;

For, to extinguish so burning an ardour
The water of my eyes would never be sufficient,
Nor yet would all the waters of the seas.

Translator's note: the image is, of course, of Icarus who, escaping from Crete on wings made for him by his father, fell to his death after he flew too high causing the heat of the sun to melt the wax holding the feathers in place.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 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
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-02-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 115