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Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame, [Il me suffit]1, car je ne veux avoir Plus grand [honneur, sinon que de]2 me voir En te baisant, dans ton sein rendre l'âme. Celui que Mars [horriblement]3 enflamme Aille à la guerre, et [manque de pouvoir, Et jeune d'ans]4, s'ébatte à recevoir En sa poitrine une Espagnole lame ; [Mais moi, plus froid]5, je ne requiers, sinon Après cent ans, sans gloire, et sans renom, Mourir oisif en ton giron, Cassandre. Car je me trompe, ou c'est plus de bonheur, Mourir ainsi, que d'avoir tout l'honneur, Pour vivre peu, d'un [guerrier]6 Alexandre.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• G. Boni • J. Castro • J. de Maletty • F. Regnard • A. UtendalJ. Castro sets stanza 1
F. Regnard sets stanza 1
A. Utendal sets stanza 1
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Boni, Maletty: "Je suis content"
2 Boni, Maletty: "honneur au monde que"
3 Boni, Maletty: "en la jeunesse"
4 Boni, Maletty: "d'ans et de pouvoir,/ Tout furieux"
5 Boni, Maletty: "Moy plus couard"
6 Boni, Maletty: "monarque"
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame" [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), "Si je trespasse entre tes bras Madame", published 1608 [vocal quartet], from Sonnets de Pierre de Ronsard mis en musique à 4 parties, I, no. 28, Paris, Pierre Ballard [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jean de Castro (c1540 - c1600), "Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame", stanza 1. [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jean de Maletty (flourished 16th century), "Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame" [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by François Regnard (c1530 - c1600), "Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame", stanza 1. [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alexander Utendal (1543?5 - 1581), "Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame", stanza 1. [ sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) (David Wyatt) , "If I die in your arms, Madame", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 108
If I die in your arms, Madame, [it will be enough]1, for I crave no greater [honour]2 than to surrender my soul in your embrace. The man who is [terribly excited]3 by Mars Can go to war, and [little in strength And young of years]4, gambol about till he receives In his chest a Spanish blade; But me, I'm [colder]5, I don't want to die, unless it's In a hundred years, without glory, without renown, Dying idly in your lap, Cassandra. For I fool myself that it's more fortunate To die thus, than to have all the honour Of [warlike]6 Alexander, but to live only a little.
Stanza 1 is translated by Faith Cormier (2000); the rest is translated by David Wyatt.
1 Boni, Maletty: "I am happy"
2 Boni, Maletty: "honour in the world"
3 Boni, Maletty: "excited in his youth"
4 Boni, Maletty: "raging with youth/ And power"
5 Boni, Maletty: "more cowardly"
6 Boni, Maletty: "king"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2012 by Faith J. Cormier and 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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Si je trépasse entre tes bras, Madame"
This text was added to the website: 2012-07-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 116