by
Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)
Bien mille fois et mille j’ay tenté
Language: French (Français)
Bien mille fois et mille j’ay tenté
De fredonner sus les nerfs de ma lyre,
Et sus le blanc de cent papiers écrire
Le nom qu’Amour dans le cœur m’a planté.
Mais tout soudain je suis époüanté :
Car ce beau nom, qui l’esprit me retire,
Sans le chanter estonné me retire,
De cent fureurs brusquement tourmenté.
Je suis semblable à la Prestresse folle,
Qui bégue perd la voix [et la parolle],
Dessus le Dieu qu’elle fuit pour neant.
Ainsi piqué de l’amour qui m’a touché
Si pres au cœur, la voix fraude ma bouche,
Et, voulant dire en vain, je suis béant.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: David Wyatt
This text was added to the website: 2017-02-17
Line count: 14
Word count: 102
Oh, a thousand and a thousand times I’ve...
Language: English after the French (Français)
Oh, a thousand and a thousand times I’ve tried
To strum on the strings of my lyre,
And upon a hundred blank sheets write
The name which Love has planted in my heart.
But suddenly I’m terrified:
For this fair name, which draws my spirit from me,
If I don’t sing of it, withdraws from me, stunned
And roughly tormented by a hundred frenzies.
I am like that maddened priestess
Who, stammering, lost her voice and speech
Under the power of that god whom fruitlessly she fled.
So, stung by the love which has touched me
So near my heart, my voice cheats my mouth
And, though I try in vain to speak, I’m left gaping.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 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:
This text was added to the website: 2017-02-17
Line count: 14
Word count: 116