Dotage | Dotage is the seventh and last of the ages

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Le Caduc

Language: Middle French after the Middle French

Our translations: ENG

Le Caduc est le sept des âges le dernier,
Où Saturne commande, arrestant sa carriere
En l'an quatre-vingt-huit. Nature à sa premiere
Foiblesse le conduit, retournant au premier.

Confirmed with M. Prosper Blanchemain, ed., Œuvres complètes de P. de Ronsard, Tome VI, Paris: Librairie A. Franck, 1866, page 420.

Text Authorship:

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Le Caduc", appears in Gayetez et Epigrammes, in Sur les sept âges de l'homme, no. 7 [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Middle French by Claude Gruget (d. c1560) [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Spanish (Español) by Pero Mexia (1497 - 1551) [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Jack Ledru (1922 - 2013), "Le Caduc", 2010, first performed 2011 [ vocal quartet and piano ], from Sur les Sept Âges de l'homme, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Dotage", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-16
Line count: 4
Word count: 28

Dotage

Language: English after the Middle French

Dotage is the seventh and last of the ages,
Wherein Saturn rules, arresting its career
In the eighty-eighth year. Nature to his original 
Weakness restores him, returning to the beginning.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Middle French to English copyright © 2026 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 Middle French by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Le Caduc", appears in Gayetez et Epigrammes, in Sur les sept âges de l'homme, no. 7 [an adaptation]
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Middle French by Claude Gruget (d. c1560) [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Spanish (Español) by Pero Mexia (1497 - 1551) [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-18
Line count: 4
Word count: 30