Why turn away your eyes | Why turn away your eyes

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by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Pourquoy tournez vous vos yeux

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Pourquoy tournez vous vos yeux
Gratieux
De moy quand voulez m'occire ?
Comme si n'aviez pouvoir
Par me voir
D'un seul regard me destruire ?

Las ! vous le faites afin
Que ma fin
Ne me semblast bienheureuse,
Si j'allois en périssant
Jouissant
De votre œillade amoureuse.

Mais quoi ? Vous abusez fort.
Ceste mort,
Qui vous semble tant cruelle,
Me semble un gaing de bonheur
Pour l'honneur
De vous qui estes si belle.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Sweelinck

J. Sweelinck sets stanza 1

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Text Authorship:

by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title [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 Anthoine de Bertrand (1540? - 1581?), "Pourquoy tournez vous voz yeux", published 1578, first performed 1576 [ vocal quartet a cappella ], from Les Amours de Pierre de Ronsard à 4 parties, Livre 2, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Clement Janequin (c1495 - c1560), "Pourquoy tournez vous vos yeux", 1557 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562 - 1621), "Pourquoy tournez vous vos yeux", stanza 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , "Why turn away your eyes", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 18
Word count: 70

Why turn away your eyes

Language: English after the French (Français)

Why turn away your eyes,
My lady,
From me when you wish to kill me?
As if you had no power
In seeing me
To destroy me with a glance.

Alas, you do it so
That my end
Should not seem fortunate to me,
As I would die
Joyfully
From your loving look.

So what then? You very much misuse me.
This death
Which seems to you so cruel
To me seems winning happiness
For the honour
Of you who are so beautiful.

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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), no title
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2012-07-25
Line count: 18
Word count: 83