Oh, if only just once | Oh, if only just once I could chance to take revenge

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Puisse advenir qu'une fois je me vange

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Puisse advenir qu'une fois je me vange
De ce penser qui devore mon cueur,
Et qui tousjours comme un lion veinqueur
Le tient l'estrangle et sans pitié le mange!

Avec le temps le temps mesme se change :
Mais ce cruel qui suçe ma vigueur,
Opiniastre au cours de sa rigueur,
En autre lieu qu'en mon coeur ne se range.

Il est bien vray qu'il contraint un petit
Durant le jour son secret appetit,
Et sur mon cœur ses griffes il n'allonge ;

Mais quand la nuit tient le jour enfermé,
Il sort en queste et lion affamé,
De mille dents toute nuict il me ronge.

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), "Puisse avenir qu'une fois", published 1608 [vocal quartet], from the collection Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, I, no. 3, Paris, Pierre Ballard [
text verified 1 time
]

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , title 1: "Oh, if only just once", 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: 104

Oh, if only just once

Language: English after the French (Français)

Oh, if only just once I could chance to take revenge
On this thought which eats away at my heart,
And which always, like a conquering lion,
Keeps it in a stranglehold and devours it pitilessly!

With time, time itself changes:
But this cruel (thought) which sucks dry my vigour,
Stubborn in its harshness,
Will settle nowhere else than in my heart.

It is true that, during the day, it holds back
Its hidden appetite a little,
And extends its claws over my heart;

But when night brings the day to a close,
Out it comes on the hunt, and like a hungry lion
With a thousand teeth gnaws at me all night.

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: 113