Item: I wish that around my grave

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by François Villon (1431 - 1463)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Item, vueil qu'autour de ma fosse

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Item, vueil qu'autour de ma fosse, 
Ce que s'ensuyt, sans autre histoire,
Soit escript, en lettre assez grosse ;
Et qui n'auroit point d'escriptoire,
De charbon soit, ou pierre noire,
Sans en rien entamer le plastre 
(Au moins sera de moy memoire, 
Telle qu'il est d'ung bon folastre) :

CY GIST ET DORT, EN CE SOLLIER, 
QU'AMOUR OCCIST DE SON RAILLON,
UNG POVRE PETIT ESCOLLIER,
QUI FUT NOMMÉ FRANÇOIS VILLON. 
ONCQUES DE TERRE N'EUT SILLON. 
IL DONNA TOUT CHASCUN LE SCET :
TABLE, TRETTEAUX ET CORBILLON.
POUR DIEU, DICTES-EN CE VERSET.

W. Franken sets stanza 2

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Œuvres complètes de François Villon, ed. by Paul Lacroix, Paris, Ernest Flammarion, 1879, page 171.

Text Authorship:

by François Villon (1431 - 1463), no title [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 Wim Franken (b. 1922), "Epitaphe et verset ", 1969, published 1969, stanza 2 [ tenor and piano ], from Cinq poèmes de François Villon, no. 5, Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2020-10-31
Line count: 16
Word count: 88

Item: I wish that around my grave

Language: English after the French (Français)

Item: I wish that around my grave,
The following words, and nothing beside,
Be written, in very large letters;
And if there's no writing kit
Let it be in charcoal, or black stone,
Without in any way damaging the plaster
(At least I will be remembered 
As befits a good prankster):

HERE LIES SLEEPING, IN THIS ATTIC,
ONE KILLED BY LOVE'S CROSSBOW,
A POOR LITTLE SCHOLAR
WHO WAS NAMED FRANÇOIS VILLON.
HE NEVER HAD THE LEAST BIT OF LAND,
AND GAVE AWAY ALL, AS EVERYONE KNOWS:
TABLE, TRESTLE AND BASKET.
FOR LOVE OF GOD, SPEAK OF HIM THIS VERSE.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Epitaphe et verset " = "Epitaph and Verse"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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 François Villon (1431 - 1463), no title
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-07-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 99