by
Louise Labé (1526 - 1566)
Diane estant en l'espesseur d'un bois
Language: French (Français)
Diane estant en l'espesseur d'un bois,
Apres auoir mainte beste assenee.
Prenait le frais, de Nynfes couronnée :
I'allois resuant comme fay maintefois,
Sans y penser : quand i'ouy une vois,
Qui m'apela, disant, Nynfe estonnee,
Que ne t'es tu vers Diane tournee ?
Et me voyant sans arc & sans carquois,
Qu'as tu trouué, ô compagne, en ta voye,
Qui de ton arc & flesches ait fait proye ?
Ie m'animay, respons ie, à un passant.
Et lui getay en vain toutes mes flesches
Et l'arc après : mais lui les ramassant
Et les tirant me fit cent & cent bresches.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Œuvres de Louise Labé, texte établi par Charles Boy, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1887, page 104.
Modernized spelling version:
Diane étant en l'épaisseur d'un bois,
Après avoir mainte bête assénée,
Prenait le frais, de Nymphes couronnée.
J'allais rêvant, comme fais mainte fois,
Sans y penser, quand j'ouïs une voix
Qui m'appela, disant : Nymphe étonnée,
Que ne t'es-tu vers Diane tournée ?
Et, me voyant sans arc et sans carquois :
Qu'as-tu trouvé, ô compagne, en ta voie,
Qui de ton arc et flèches ait fait proie ?
- Je m'animai, réponds-je, à un passant,
Et lui jetai en vain toutes mes flèches
Et l'arc après ; mais lui, les ramassant
Et les tirant, me fit cent et cent brèches.
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):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
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This text was added to the website: 2017-01-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 97
Diana was seated in a forest glen
Language: English after the French (Français)
Diana was seated in a forest glen
after a stint of boar- and roebuck-slaying,
surrounded by her nymphs, resting and playing.
And I was in my idle dream ... but then
I heard a loud voice call me and deliver
these words: "Astonished nymph, why do you stand
apart? You ought to join Diana’s band!"
And, noticing I had no bow or quiver:
"Friend, did you meet some robber on your way
who took your bow and arrows for his prey?"
- "A passerby," I said: "entranced me so
that I shot my arrows at him, plus my bow,
in vain: for he just picked them up, took aim,
and coolly pierced my flesh again and again."
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English 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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Louise Labé (1526 - 1566), no title, written 1552, appears in Sonnets, no. 19
This text was added to the website: 2022-07-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 115