by
Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)
Je plante en ta faveur cet arbre de...
Language: French (Français)
Je plante en ta faveur cet arbre de Cybèle,
Ce pin, où tes honneurs se liront tous les jours :
J'ai gravé sur le tronc nos noms et nos amours,
Qui croîtront à l'envi de l'écorce nouvelle.
Faunes qui habitez ma terre paternelle,
Qui menez sur le Loir vos danses et vos tours,
Favorisez la plante et lui donnez secours,
Que l'Été ne la brûle, et l'Hiver ne la gèle.
Pasteur, qui conduiras en ce lieu ton troupeau,
Flageolant une Eglogue en ton tuyau d'aveine,
Attache tous les ans à cet arbre un tableau,
Qui témoigne aux passants mes amours et ma peine ;
Puis l'arrosant de lait et du sang d'un agneau,
Dis : " Ce pin est sacré, c'est la plante d'Hélène. "
About the headline (FAQ)
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):
- by Ernst Alexander 'Sas' Bunge (1924 - 1980), "Sonnet pour Hélène", 1945-48, published 1951 [ high voice and piano ], from Deux poèmes, no. 2, Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
- by André-Marie Cuvelier , "L'arbre d'Hélène", 1938 [ high voice and piano ], from Chansons pour Hélène, 3ème recueil, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fernand-Gustave Halphen (1872 - 1917), "Chanson pour Hélène", 1909, published 1909 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Société Musicale G. Astruc [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2016-05-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 122
I’m planting this tree of Cybele for you
Language: English after the French (Français)
I’m planting this tree of Cybele for you,
This pine on which your glories will be read every day ;
I have carved on the trunk our names and our love
Which will get bigger despite the new bark.
You fauns who inhabit my family’s lands,
Who dance and trip upon the Loir,
Make this plant your favourite and give it your aid
So that summer does not burn nor winter freeze it.
And you, shepherd who steer your flock to this place
Fluting an eclogue on your oat-stalk pipe,
Fix a picture to this tree every year
To witness to passers-by of my love and my pain ;
Then, pouring on it milk and the blood of a lamb,
Say, “This pine is sacred, it is Helen’s tree.”
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 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: 2019-10-30
Line count: 14
Word count: 127