Songs
D'Anne qui m'a jecta de la neige
by Maurice Ravel From Deux épigrammes de Clément Marot (1899)
D'Anne qui m'a jecta de la neige
French source:
Clément Marot
Que je cuidoys froide, certainement:
Mais c’estoit feu, l’expérience en ay je,
Car embrasé, je fus soudainement.
Puis que le feu loge secretement
Dedans la neige, où trouveray je place
Pour n’ardre point? Anne, ta seule grâce
Estaindre peult le feu que je sens bien,
Non point par eau, par neige ne par glace,
Mais par sentir un feu pareil au mien.
On Anne who threw snow at me
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Which I certainly thought cold:
But what I felt from it was fire,
For suddenly I was all aflame.
Since fire dwells secretly
In the snow, where shall I find a place
Where I’ll not burn? Anne, your favour alone
Can quench the flame I so keenly feel,
Not water nor snow nor ice,
But by feeling a fire which matches mine.
Translation © Richard Stokes author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
D'Anne qui m'a jecta de la neige
French source:
Clément Marot
On Anne who threw snow at me
English source:
Richard Stokes
Anne par jeu me jecta de la neige,
Anne in play threw snow at me,
Que je cuidoys froide, certainement:
Which I certainly thought cold:
Mais c’estoit feu, l’expérience en ay je,
But what I felt from it was fire,
Car embrasé, je fus soudainement.
For suddenly I was all aflame.
Puis que le feu loge secretement
Since fire dwells secretly
Dedans la neige, où trouveray je place
In the snow, where shall I find a place
Pour n’ardre point? Anne, ta seule grâce
Where I’ll not burn? Anne, your favour alone
Estaindre peult le feu que je sens bien,
Can quench the flame I so keenly feel,
Non point par eau, par neige ne par glace,
Not water nor snow nor ice,
Mais par sentir un feu pareil au mien.
But by feeling a fire which matches mine.
Composer
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel was a French composer, pianist and conductor. In the 1920s and 1930s he was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer. He was one of the first composers to acknowledge the potential of recording in making…
