Her hair is golden, her brow a picture | Her hair is golden, her brow a picture

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Son chef est d'or, son front est un...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Son chef est d'or, son front est un tableau,
Où je voy peint le gain de mon dommage, 
Belle est sa main qui me fait devant l'aage 
Changer de teint, de cheveux et de peau. 

Belle est sa bouche et son soleil jumeau, 
De neige et feu s'embellit son visage, 
Pour qui Jupin reprendroit le plumage 
Ore d'un Cygne, or' le poil d'un Toreau. 

Doux est son ris, qui la Meduse mesme 
Endurciroit en quelque roche blesme, 
Vengeant d'un coup cent mille cruautez. 

Mais tout ainsi que le soleil efface 
Les moindres feux, ainsi ma foy surpasse 
Le plus parfait de toutes ses beautez.

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), "Son chef est d'or, son front est un tableau", published 1608 [vocal quartet], from Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, I, no. 24, Paris, Pierre Ballard [ sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in French (Français), [adaptation] ; composed by Jean de Maletty.

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , "Her hair is golden, her brow a picture", 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: 104

Her hair is golden, her brow a picture

Language: English after the French (Français)

Her hair is golden, her brow a picture
On which I see painted my getting this wound ;
Fair is her hand which makes me, before my time,
Change colour, both of hair and skin.

Fair is her mouth and her twin suns,
With snow and fire is her face embellished ;
For it, Jupiter would again take on the plumage
Of a swan, or the hide of a bull.

Sweet is her smile, even if Medusa
Hardened it into some pale rock,
Repaying in one moment a hundred thousand cruelties.

But just as the sun overpowers
Smaller fires, so my faithfulness surpasses
The most perfect of all her beauties.

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: 108