Las ! que me sert, que si parfaitement Louas iadis & ma tresse dorée. Et de mes yeus la beauté comparee À deux Soleils, dont Amour finement Tira les trets causez de ton tourment ? Ou estes vous, pleurs de peu de duree ? Et Mort par qui deuoit estre honorée Ta ferme amour & itéré serment ? Donques c'estoit le but de ta malice De m'asseruir sous ombre de seruice ? Pardonne moy, Ami, à cette fois, Estant outrée & de despit & d'ire : Mais ie m'assure, quelque part que tu sois, Qu'autant que moy tu soufres de martire.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Œuvres de Louise Labé, texte établi par Charles Boy, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1887, page 106.
Text Authorship:
- by Louise Labé (1526 - 1566), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 23 [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 Konrad Boehmer (b. 1941), "Martyre", published 1980 [ soprano, flute, and percussion ], from Je vis - je meurs, no. 4, Darmstadt, Tonos [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Las ! que me sert que si parfaitement", op. 206 no. 8 (2006) [ high voice, guitar, and 2 mandolins ], from Le Jardin de Louise Labé, Suite, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Las ! que me sert que si parfaitement", 2018 [ medium voice and piano ], from Deux sonnets de Louise Labé, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Oboe Lee (b. 1945), "Las ! que me sert, que si parfaitement", 2021 [ soprano and piano ], from Sept Sonnets de Louise Labé, no. 7, SMP Press [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Rainer Maria Rilke) , no title, appears in Die vierundzwanzig Sonette der Louize Labé, Lyoneserin : 1555, no. 23, Leipzig, Insel-Verlag, first published 1917
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2012-02-10
Line count: 14
Word count: 95
Was hilft es mir, daß du so meisterhaft mein Haar besangst und sein gesträhntes Gold, und daß du diese meine Augen hold wie Sonnen nanntest, deren reine Kraft der Gott benützt, dich innig zu verstören? Wo sind die Tränen, die dir schnell vergingen? Wo ist der Tod? Ich höre dich noch schwören, er einzig könne deine Liebe zwingen. Das also war der Sinn von deiner List, mir, da du mir dies alles zugetragen. Eintrag zu tun. Laß auch dirs heute sagen und dich im Zorn schon um Verzeihung bitten für dieses Wort. Es bleibt mir unbestritten: Du quälst dich so wie ich, wo du auch bist.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Die vierundzwanzig Sonette der Louize Labé, Lyoneserin : 1555, Leipzig, Insel-Verlag, 1917.
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Die vierundzwanzig Sonette der Louize Labé, Lyoneserin : 1555, no. 23, Leipzig, Insel-Verlag, first published 1917 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Louise Labé (1526 - 1566), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 23
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2020-03-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 106