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Pour boire dessus l'herbe tendre Je veux sous un laurier m'étendre, Et veux qu'Amour, d'un petit brin Ou de lin ou de chènevière [Trousse au flanc]1 sa robe légère, [Et, mi-nue,]2 me verse du vin. [L'incertaine vie]3 de l'homme De jour en jour se roule comme Aux rives se roulent les flots : Puis après notre heure dernière Rien [de nous ne]4 reste en la bière [Qu'une vieille carcasse d'os]5. Je [ne]6 veux, selon la coutume, Que d'encens ma tombe on parfume, Ni qu'on y verse des odeurs ; Mais [tandis] que je suis envie, J'ai de me parfumer envie, Et de me couronner de fleurs,7 De moi-même je me veux faire L'héritier pour me satisfaire ; Je ne veux vivre pour autrui. Fol le Pélican qui se blesse Pour les siens, et fol qui se laisse Pour les siens travailler d'ennui.
L. Gouvy sets stanzas 1-3
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Gouvy: "Relève"
2 Gouvy: "Et gaiment"
3 Gouvy: "La vie incertaine"
4 Gouvy: "ne nous"
5 Gouvy: "Que la poussière de nos os"
6 omitted by Gouvy.
7 Gouvy adds
Qu'on verse des odeurs ! Qu'on me qouronne de fleurs !
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title, appears in Les Odes, no. 17 [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 Louis Théodore Gouvy (1819 - 1898), "Pour boire dessus l'herbe tendre", op. 43 (Quatre chansons) no. 3, published 1876, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ], from 40 Poèmes de Ronsard, no. 39, Paris, Éd Simon Richault [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Victor Massé (1822 - 1884), "Épicurienne" [ high voice and piano ], from Chants d'autrefois: recueil des premières mélodies de V. Massé, no. 8, Éditions Léon Grus [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Wyatt) , "To drink upon the tender grass", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Linda Godry) (Heide Wiesner) , "Ein Glas auf weichem Gras zu trinken", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-06-03
Line count: 24
Word count: 139
To drink upon the tender grass I'd like to stretch out under a laurel, And I'd like Love to tie, with a strand Of linen or of hemp, Her light dress at her side And, half-naked, pour me wine. The uncertain life of man Unfolds from day to day like Waves rolling onto the riverbanks; Then, after our final hour, Nothing of us remains in the coffin But an old frame of bones. I do not wish, as is the custom, That they perfume my tomb with incense, Nor pour out sweet-smelling oil on it, But so long as I am alive I would like to be perfumed And indeed crowned with flowers. I would like to make myself My legatee, to satisfy myself; I wish to live for no-one else. Foolish the pelican who wounds herself For her little ones, and foolish he who lets himself For his little ones work in boredom.
Translator's note for stanza 4 lines 4-5: the 'pelican in her piety', who wounds her own breast to feed her little ones, is a standard medieval image of Christ bleeding for his earthly children. Ronsard is continuing here his theme of disrespect for society's norms.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2012 by David Wyatt, (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 Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title, appears in Les Odes, no. 17
This text was added to the website: 2012-07-25
Line count: 24
Word count: 154