I don't know how I go on

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by Christine de Pizan (1363 - c1434), as Christine de Pisan

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Je ne sais comment je dure

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Je ne sais comment je dure ;
Car mon dolent cœur fond d’ire,
Et plaindre n’ose, ni dire
Ma douloureuse aventure,

Ma dolente vie obscure,
Rien, hors la mort, ne désire ;
Je ne sais comment je dure.

Et me faut par couverture
Chanter quand mon cœur soupire,
Et faire semblant de rire ;
Mais Dieu sait ce que j’endure ;
Je ne sais comment je dure.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Christine de Pizan (1363 - c1434), as Christine de Pisan, "Je ne sais comment" [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 Claude Tricot (b. 1926), "Je ne sais comment je dure" [ high voice and piano ], from Mélodies, recueil 2, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Choudens [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2022-08-08
Line count: 12
Word count: 63

I don't know how I go on

Language: English after the French (Français)

I don't know how I go on:
For my mournful heart melts with grief,
And I dare not complain, nor tell 
The pain that has befallen me.

My dark, mournful life
Wishes for nothing besides death;
I don't know how I go on.

And I must, by way of disguise,
Sing while my heart is sighing,
And pretend to laugh;
But God knows what I endure;
I don't know how I go on.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Je ne sais comment" = "I Don't Know How"
"Je ne sais comment je dure" = "I Don't Know How I Go On"

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.
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Christine de Pizan (1363 - c1434), as Christine de Pisan, "Je ne sais comment"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-09-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 73