Tu m'as faict un chappeau de roses,
Qui semblent tes deux levres closes,
Et de lis freschement cueillis,
Qui semblent tes beaux doigts polis,
Les liant d'un fil d'or ensemble,
Qui à tes blonds cheveux ressemble.

Mais si jeune tu entendois
L'ouvrage, qu'ont tyssu tes doigts,
Tu serois, peult estre, plus sage
A prevoir ton futur dommage.

Ces roses plus ne rougiront,
Et ces lis plus ne blanchiront :
La fleur des ans, qui peu sejourne,
S'en fuit, et jamais ne retourne :
Etle fil te monstre combien
La vie est un fragile bien.

Pourquoy donc m'es-tu si rebelle ?
Mais pourquoy t'es-tu si cruelle ?
Si tu n'as point pitié de moy,
Ayes au moins pitié de toy.

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Joachim du Bellay, Divers Jeux Rustiques et autres œuvres poétiques, Paris: E. Sansot & C^ie , 1912, Page 176.

Modernized text:

Tu m'as fait un chapeau de roses
Qui semblent tes deux lèvres closes,
Et de lis fraîchement cueillis
Qui semblent tes beaux doigts polis,
Les liant d'un fil d'or ensemble,
Qui à tes blonds cheveux ressemble.

Mais si jeune tu entendais
L'ouvrage qu'ont tissu tes doigts,
Tu serais, peut être, plus sage
A prévoir ton futur dommage.

Ces roses plus ne rougiront,
Et ces lis plus ne blanchiront
La fleur des ans, qui peu séjourne,
S'en fuit, et jamais ne retourne :
Et le fil te montre combien
La vie est un fragile bien.

Pourquoi donc m'es tu si rebelle ?
Mais pourquoi t'es tu si cruelle ?
Si tu n'as point pitié de moi,
Aie au moins pitié de toi.

Note: in the original publication, the text Du mesme Bembe (i.e., "Of the same Bembe") is printed after the poem's title. This is a reference to the comment Du Bembe that follows the title of the previous poem in the collection. The "Bembe" in question is Pietro Bembo (1470-1547), called "Pierre Bembe" in du Bellay's writings. Bembo was one of the first Italian proponents of vernacular (as opposed to Latin) poetry.

Text Authorship:

• by Joachim du Bellay (1525 - c1560), "Sur un chapelet de roses", appears in Divers Jeux Rustiques, no. 26 [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 Louis Beydts (1896 - 1953), "Sur un chapelet de roses" [ voice and piano ], from Jeux rustiques, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Claude Tricot (1926 - 2009), "Sur un chapelet de roses" [ soprano and piano ], from Mélodies, recueil 1, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Choudens [sung text not yet checked]

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

• ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "On a Chaplet of Roses", copyright © 2025, (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: 2024-03-13
Line count: 20
Word count: 115

You made me a chaplet of roses 
That look like your two lips together,
And of freshly gathered lilies 
That look like your elegant fingers,
Binding them up with a golden thread,
That resembles your blond tresses.

But if being young you understood 
The work that your fingers have woven,
You would perhaps be wiser
And foresee your future loss.

These roses will no longer grow red,
These lilies will no longer grow white;
The flower of years, which little tarries,
Hastens away, and never returns,
And the thread lets you see
How fragile a treasure life is.

Why then do you rebel so against me?
And why do you show yourself such cruelty?
If you will not take pity on me,
At least take pity on yourself.