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by Rutebeuf (c1225 - c1285)

Pauvre sens et pauvre mémoire
Language: Old French (Ancien français) 
Choose for Diff
Pauvre sens et pauvre mémoire
M'a donné Dieu, le roi de gloire,
        Et pauvre rente....
Ainsi suis comme l'osier franc
Ou comme l'oiseau sur la branche :
        L'été, je chante;
L'hiver, je pleure et me lamente,
Et me défeuille ainsi que l'arbre
        Au premier gel.
En moi n'ai ni venin, ni fiel :
Ne me reste rien sous le ciel,
        Tout va sa voie....
Les dés que les détiers ont faits
M'ont de ma robe tout défait :
        Les dés m'occient,
Les dés me guettent et épient,
Les dés m'assaillent et défient,
        C'est mon malheur !
Je n'en puis mais, si je m'effraie :
Ne vois venir avril ni mai,
        Voici la glace.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Léon Clédat, Rutebeuf, Paris: Librairie Hachette, 1891, page 32.

Note: the spelling of this text has been modernized.

Text Authorship:

  • by Rutebeuf (c1225 - c1285), no title, appears in Poèmes de l'infortune [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 Maurice Thiriet (1906 - 1972), "La grièche d'hiver", published 1928 [ high voice and piano ], from Deux Poèmes de Rutebeuf, no. 1, Éd. F. Durdilly, Ch. Hayet [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-04
Line count: 21
Word count: 108

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