Tant que mes yeus pourront larmes espandre, À l'heur passé auec toy regretter : Et qu'aus sanglots & soupirs resister Pourra ma voix, & un peu faire entendre : Tant que ma main pourra les cordes tendre Du mignart Lut, pour tes grâces chanter : Tant que l'esprit se voudra contenter De ne vouloir rien fors que toy comprendre : Ie ne souhaitte encore point mourir. Mais quand mes yeus ie sentiray tarir, Ma voix cassee, & ma main impuissante, Et mon esprit en ce mortel seiour Ne pouuant plus montrer signe d'amante : Priray la Mort noircir mon plus cler iour.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Œuvres de Louise Labé, texte établi par Charles Boy, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1887, page 101.
Modernized spelling version:
Tant que mes yeux pourront larmes épandre A l'heur passé avec toi regretter, Et qu'aux sanglots et soupirs résister Pourra ma voix, et un peu faire entendre ; Tant que ma main pourra les cordes tendre Du mignard luth, pour tes grâces chanter ; Tant que l'esprit se voudra contenter De ne vouloir rien fors que toi comprendre, Je ne souhaite encore point mourir. Mais, quand mes yeux je sentirai tarir, Ma voix cassée, et ma main impuissante, Et mon esprit en ce mortel séjour Ne pouvant plus montrer signe d'amante, Prierai la mort noircir mon plus clair jour.
Authorship:
- by Louise Labé (1526 - 1566), written 1552, appears in Sonnets, no. 14 [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 Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley, Sir (1903 - 1989), "Tant que mes yeux", subtitle: "A memory", op. 14 no. 2d (1940), published 1941 [ high voice and piano ], from Five Songs, op. 14 no. 2, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by François Berthet (1873 - 1956), "Tant que mes yeux", op. 10 no. 10 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Rouart, Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Tant que mes yeux pourront larmes épandre", op. 206 no. 10 (2006) [ medium voice, guitar, and mandolin ], from Le Jardin de Louise Labé, Suite, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernst Alexander 'Sas' Bunge (1924 - 1980), "Sonnet XIV", published 1951 [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois airs, sur des poèmes de Louise Labé, no. 3, Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michel Decoust (b. 1936), "Tant que mes yeux pourront larmes estandre", 2001 [ speaker, mezzo-soprano, accordion, and cello ], from Cinq Sonnets de Louise Labé, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rudolf Escher (1912 - 1980), "Tant que mes yeux", 1951, published 1951 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Chants du désir, 4 sonnets de Louise Labé, no. 4, Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henri-Pierre Poupard (1901 - 1989), as Henri Sauguet, "Tant que mes yeux", 1927, published 1928 [ high voice and piano ], from Six sonnets de L. Labé, no. 6, Éd. Rouard Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Aribert Reimann (b. 1936), "Tant que mes yeus pourront larmes espandre", op. 10 no. 7 (1986), published 1988 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Neun Sonette der Louize Labé, no. 7, Mainz, B. Schott's Söhne; confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gaston Selz (1869 - 1953), "Tant que mes yeux pourront larmes espandre", copyright © 1926 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Willis Barnstone (b. 1927) , "XIV", copyright © ; composed by Judith Cloud.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , no title, copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Rainer Maria Rilke) , no title, appears in Die vierundzwanzig Sonette der Louize Labé, Lyoneserin : 1555, no. 14, Leipzig, Insel-Verlag, first published 1917
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-06
Line count: 14
Word count: 102
Although I cry and though my eyes still shed [ ... ]
About the headline (FAQ)
This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.Authorship:
- by Willis Barnstone (b. 1927), "XIV", copyright © [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Louise Labé (1526 - 1566), written 1552, appears in Sonnets, no. 14
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Judith Cloud (1954 - 2023), "Sonnet XIV: Although I Cry", 2013 [ contralto and piano ], from Black Day, Bright Day, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
This text was added to the website: 2023-01-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 119