Whoever wishes to see a god overcoming me | Whoever wishes to see a god overcoming me

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by Peter Low

Qui voudra voir comme un dieu me...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Qui voudra voir comme un dieu me surmonte,
Comme il m'assaut, comme il se fait vainqueur,
Comme il renflamme et renglace mon coeur,
Comme il se fait un honneur de ma honte,

Qui voudra voir une jeunesse prompte
A suivre en vain l'objet de son malheur,
Me vienne lire: il verra ma douleur
Dont ma déesse et mon dieu ne font compte.

Il connaîtra qu'amour est sans raison,
Un doux abus, une belle prison,
Un vain espoir qui de vent nous vient paître.

Et connaîtra que l'homme se décoit
Quand plein d'erreur un aveugle il reçoit
Pour sa conduite, un enfant pour son maître.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title, first published 1552 [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 Frank Martin (1890 - 1974), "Qui voudra voir comme un dieu me surmonte ", 1921 [mezzo-soprano, flute, viola, and cello], from Quatre sonnets à Cassandre, no. 1. [
text verified 1 time
]

Another version of this text exists in the database.

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

ENG English (Peter Low) , title 1: "Whoever wishes to see a god overcoming me", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Peter Low [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 104

Whoever wishes to see a god overcoming me

Language: English after the French (Français)

 Whoever wishes to see a god overcoming me,
 assailing me, vanquishing me,
 making my heart flame and freeze repeatedly,
 and taking pride in my shame...
 
 whoever wishes to see a young man quick to pursue
 in vain the object of his misery...
 should read my words: he will see my suffering,
 which is ignored by my goddess Cassandre, and by my god.
 
 He will learn that love is irrational,
 a sweet illusion, a beautiful prison,
 a futile hope which feeds on empty air.
 
 He will learn that one lets oneself down
 when one mistakenly accepts
 Eros the blind as guide, Eros the child as master.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Peter Low, (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.
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title, first published 1552
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 106