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On voit mourir toute chose animée, Lors que du corps l'âme subtile part. Je suis le corps, toi la meilleure part : Où es-tu donc, ô âme bien-aimée ? Ne me laissez par si long temps pâmée, Pour me sauver après viendrais trop tard. Las ! ne mets point ton corps en ce hasard : Rends-lui sa part et moitié estimée. Mais fais, Ami, que ne soit dangereuse Cette rencontre et revue amoureuse, L'accompagnant, non de sévérité, Non de rigueur, mais de grâce amiable, Qui doucement me rende ta beauté, Jadis cruelle, à présent [favorable]1.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Œuvres de Louise Labé, texte établi par Charles Boy, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1887, pages 96-97. The spelling has been modernized.
1 Reimann: "savorable" (typo?)Text Authorship:
- by Louise Labé (1526 - 1566), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 7, first published 1555 [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 Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "On voit mourir toute chose animée", op. 206 no. 6 (2006) [ high voice, guitar, and mandole ], from Le Jardin de Louise Labé, Suite, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rudolf Escher (1912 - 1980), "On voit mourir", 1951, published 1951 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Chants du désir, 4 sonnets de Louise Labé, no. 2, Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ferenc Farkas (1905 - 2000), "Sonnet VII de Louise Labé", 1944 [ tenor, flute, and harp ], second version [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ferenc Farkas (1905 - 2000), "Sonnet VII de Louise Labé", 1944, published 2010 [ mezzo-soprano and piano or harp ], Éd. AFPublishing [sung text not yet checked]
- by Aribert Reimann (b. 1936), "On voit mourir toute chose animée", op. 10 no. 3 (1986), published 1988 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Neun Sonette der Louize Labé, no. 3, Mainz, B. Schott's Söhne; confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Viktor Ullmann (1898 - 1944), "On voit mourir", op. 34 no. 2, published 1941 [ soprano and piano ], from Six Sonnets de Louïze Labé, no. 2 [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
- FRE French (Français) (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. 7
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Low [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-28
Line count: 14
Word count: 93
Every animate thing is seen to die when from the body the subtle soul departs. I am the body, you are the better part: but where are you, sweet soul for whom I sigh? Don't leave me swooning in this semi-death - I'm frightened that you might return too late. No, do not hazard your body to this fate: return the other half that gives it breath. And please, dear friend, in case this lovers' tryst and fond reunion carries too much risk, bring to it nothing rigorous or officious; but gently, with relaxed and friendly grace, restore to me the beauty of your face, formerly harsh, now perfectly propitious.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to French (Français) copyright © 2022 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Louise Labé (1526 - 1566), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 7, first published 1555
This text was added to the website: 2022-04-20
Line count: 14
Word count: 109