De triste cœur, chanter joyeusement
Et rire en deuil, c'est chose forte à faire.
De son penser, montrer tout le contraire,
Tirer doux ris de dolent sentiment,

Ainsi me faut faire communément,
Et me convient, pour celer mon affaire,
De triste cœur, chanter joyeusement.

Car en mon cœur porte couvertement
Le deuil qui soit qui plus me peut déplaire;
Ainsi me faut, pour les gens faire taire,
Rire en pleurant et très amèrement,
De triste cœur, chanter joyeusement.

Copied from Christine de Pisan, Introduction, choix et adaptation par Jeanine Moulin, Paris: Pierre Seghers, 1962, p. 75

Text Authorship:

• by Christine de Pizan (1363 - c1434) [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• by Ella Georgiyevna Adayevskaya (1846 - 1926), "De triste cœur", 1893 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], unpublished  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ella Georgiyevna Adayevskaya (1846 - 1926), "De triste cœur", 1896 [ voice and string quartet ], unpublished  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Roland de Lassus (1532 - 1594), "De triste cœur" [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (David Wyatt) , "With sad heart", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-08-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 78