If there is any girl in the whole land | If there is any girl in the whole land

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

S'il y a quelque fille en toute une...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

S'il y a quelque fille en toute une contrée,
Qui soit inexorable, inhumaine et cruelle,
Tousjours elle est de moy pour dame rencontrée,
Et tousjours le malheur me fait serviteur d'elle.

Mais si quelq'une est douce honneste aimable et belle,
La prinse en est pour moy tousjours desesperée:
J'ay beau estre courtois jeune accort et fidelle,
Elle sera tousjours d'un sot enamourée.

Sous tel astre malin je nasquis en ce monde!
Voyla que c'est d'aimer: ceux qui ont merité
D'estre recompensez sont en douleur profonde:

Et le sot volontiers est tousjours bien traité.
O traistre et lasche Amour que tu es malheureux!
Malheureux est celuy qui devient amoureux.

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), "S'il y a quelque fille en toute la contrée", published 1607 [vocal quartet], from the collection Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, II, no. 20, Paris, Pierre Ballard [
text verified 1 time
]

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , title 1: "If there is any girl in the whole land", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: David Wyatt

This text was added to the website: 2015-03-04
Line count: 14
Word count: 108

If there is any girl in the whole land

Language: English after the French (Français)

If there is any girl in the whole land
Who'd be inexorable, inhuman and cruel,
She is always the one I encounter as my Lady,
And always ill-fortune makes me her servant.

But if there is some sweet, decent, loveable and fair lass
My hope of getting her is always defeated;
I might be courteous, young, attractive and loyal,
But she will always fall in love with some fool.

Beneath such a malign star was I born in this world!
That's what it is to love: those who have deserved
To be rewarded are in deep sadness;

And the willing fool is always well treated.
O treacherous and cowardly Love, what ill-fortune you bring!
Unfortunate is he who falls in love.

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: 2015-03-04
Line count: 14
Word count: 121