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by Joachim du Bellay (1525 - c1560)
Translation © by David Jonathan Justman

Il me plaist icy de peindre
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG
Il me plaist icy de peindre 
Mieulx que ne le sçauroit feindre 
Un Apelle ingénieux, 
Ma peine contr' imitée 
Sur la belle Pasithée, 
Seule idole de mes yeux.

C'est mon feu, c'est ma cordelle,
Mon froid, ma flesche mortelle, 
C'est mon aigle dévorant,
Qui m'ard, lie, englace, et blesse, 
Et qui dévore sans cesse 
Mon cueur sans cesse mourant. 

De l'œil sort ma flamme vive, 
L'or des cheveux me captive,
Par la rigueur suis gelé, 
La main en cinq traicts s'allonge, 
Et le cruel qui me ronge,
C'est ce petit Dieu ailé.
 
Vénus feit l'œil, que j'adore,
Son chef fut pris de l'Aurore,
Diane son cueur donna, 
Pallas sa main tant prisée,
Et sur une ongle aguisée
Mon torment se façonna. 

Son œil les astres surmonte, 
A l'or ses tresses font honte,
Le fer cède à sa rigueur,
Sa main l'alebastre passe,
Et sur le beau de sa face
Se niche l'oiseau vaincueur,

Qui la seule mort doit craindre,
Onde pour ma flamme esteindre,
Main pour mes nœuds délacer,
Soleil pour ma glace fondre, 
Pavois pour aux coups respondre, 
Et voix pour l'oiseau chasser.

Pour me vanger je souhette,
L'un se changer en planette,
L'autre au métal qui mieux luit, 
Le tiers au cueur d'un vieil arbre,
Le quart en ivoyre ou marbre,
Et l'autre en oiseau de nuict.

Ou que mes nerfs, et mes veines
Se transforment enfonteines,
Mon col en fer pour trencher,
En feu le froid qui m'englace, 
Mon estomac en cuirasse,
Et mon cueur en un rocher.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   D. Milhaud 

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Divers jeux rustiques et autres œuvres poétiques de Joachim Du Bellay, Paris, Isidor Liseux, 1875, pages 47-49.

Modernized form of the text used by Milhaud:

C'est mon feu, c'est ma cordelle,
Mon froid, ma flèche mortelle.
C'est mon aigle dévorant,
Qui m'ard, lie, englace et blesse,
Et qui dévore sans cesse
Mon coeur sans cesse mourant.


Text Authorship:

  • by Joachim du Bellay (1525 - c1560), "De sa peine, et des beautez de sa dame", appears in Divers Jeux Rustiques, no. 18 [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 Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974), "De sa peine, et des beautés de sa Dame", op. 409 no. 4 (1964), published 1966 [ soprano and piano ], from L'amour chante, no. 4, Bryn Mawr, Theodore Presser and Co. [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • ENG English (David Jonathan Justman) , no title, copyright ©, (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: 48
Word count: 251

It is my fire, it is my rope
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
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It is my fire, it is my rope,
My cold, my mortal arrow.
It is my devouring eagle,
Which burns, ties, freezes, and wounds,
And which devours endlessly
My ever-dying heart.

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About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "De sa peine, et des beautés de sa Dame" = "On His Suffering, and the Beauties of His Lady"


Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by David Jonathan Justman, (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 Joachim du Bellay (1525 - c1560), "De sa peine, et des beautez de sa dame", appears in Divers Jeux Rustiques, no. 18
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 48
Word count: 32

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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