I have no wish for those ardors that inflame

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by Francis Jammes (1868 - 1938)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Je ne désire point ces ardeurs qui...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Je ne désire point ces ardeurs qui passionnent.
Non : elle me sera douce comme l'Automne.
Telle est sa pureté que je désirerais
qu'elle eût sur son chapeau des narcisses-des-prés.
Mais que, si elle doit me donner cette grâce
que la blanche vertu rend calme et efficace,
et veiller aux travaux ainsi que la fourmi,
je la voie au jardin me sourire parmi
les carrés de piments que Septembre rougit.
Ils me feront penser à mes passions passées.
Elle sera le lys qui les a dominées.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• D. Milhaud

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Francis Jammes, Clairières dans le Ciel, Paris: Société du Mercure de France, 1906, page 34.

Text Authorship:

by Francis Jammes (1868 - 1938), no title, appears in Clairières dans le ciel, in Tristesses, no. 11, first published 1906 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Je ne désire point", 1999 [ high voice, flute, and piano ], from Tristesses, no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974), "Je ne désire point ces ardeurs qui passionnent", op. 355 no. 11 (1956), published 1957 [ baritone and piano ], from Tristesses, no. 11, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]

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

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

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-07-12
Line count: 11
Word count: 85

I have no wish for those ardors that...

Language: English after the French (Français)

I have no wish for those ardors that inflame.
No: she will be for me as gentle as Autumn.
Such is her purity that I would want her
to wear wild daffodils on her hat.
But, if she must give me that grace
that innocent virtue renders calm and effective,
and devote herself to her labors like the ant,
let me see her in the garden smiling at me among
the patches of peppers that September has reddened.
They will remind me of my bygone passions.
She will be the lily that has outshone them.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Je ne désire point" = "I have no wish"
"Je ne désire point ces ardeurs qui passionnent" = "I have no wish for those ardors that inflame"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) 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 French (Français) by Francis Jammes (1868 - 1938), no title, appears in Clairières dans le ciel, in Tristesses, no. 11, first published 1906
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-06-23
Line count: 11
Word count: 95