Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
"qu'il pourra face"/let if/love do its worst
English translation:
see this site with the translation
Added to glossary by
liz askew
May 13, 2008 18:32
16 yrs ago
French term
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, Italian to English, and 1 more.
"qu'il pourra face"
French to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
tranlsation of louise labe sonnet 3
Not sure on the meaning of this - the full stanza is:
"Qu'encor Amour su moy son arc essaie,
Que nouveaus feus me gette et nouveaus dars:
Qu'il se despite, et pis qu'il pourrace face:
Car je suis tant navree en toutes pars....
This is what I have so far:
"Will Love ever shoot me with its bow,
Do new flames and spears await me unknown?
Will it get angry, and then ??????
For I am so distressed in every bone....
All help much appreciated - this is for a final project in a doctoral class on Ital. trans.....(FYI)
"Qu'encor Amour su moy son arc essaie,
Que nouveaus feus me gette et nouveaus dars:
Qu'il se despite, et pis qu'il pourrace face:
Car je suis tant navree en toutes pars....
This is what I have so far:
"Will Love ever shoot me with its bow,
Do new flames and spears await me unknown?
Will it get angry, and then ??????
For I am so distressed in every bone....
All help much appreciated - this is for a final project in a doctoral class on Ital. trans.....(FYI)
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | see this site with the translation |
liz askew
|
| 4 | tous le vers: qu'il fasse le pire dont il est capable |
Ewa Chojnowska
|
| 3 -1 | who can face it |
Speakering (X)
|
Change log
May 20, 2008 19:15: liz askew Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
20 mins
Selected
see this site with the translation
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4DOm1axf7TwC&pg=PA145&lpg...
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Note added at 25 mins (2008-05-13 18:58:06 GMT)
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O longs desirs, ô esperances vaines,
Tristes soupirs et larmes coutumieres
A engendrer de moy maintes rivieres,
Dont mes deus yeus sont sources et fontaines:
O cruautez, ô durtez inhumaines,
Piteus regars des celestes lumieres:
Du coeur transi ô passions premieres,
Estimez vous croitre encore mes peines?
Qu'encor Amour su moy son arc essaie
Que nouveaus feus me gette et nouveaus dars:
Qu'il se despite, et pis qu'il pourra face:
Car je suis tant navree en toutes pars,
Que plus en moy une nouvelle plaie,
Pour m'empirer ne pourroit trouver place.
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Note added at 25 mins (2008-05-13 18:58:25 GMT)
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I am still looking. The refs may be irrelevant, but it helps me!
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Note added at 28 mins (2008-05-13 19:00:32 GMT)
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Hi,
I have found the modern French equivalent to your verse ending in "pis qu'il pourra face"
Qu'Amour essaie encore son arc sur moi,
qu'il me jette de nouveaux feux et de nouvelles flèches,
qu'il se fâche, et qu'il fasse le pire qu'il pourra :
Let him get angry and let him do his worst
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2008-05-13 19:01:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
..
sorry
let love get angry and let love do its worst
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 29 mins (2008-05-13 19:01:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Here is the site where you have four verses in modern day French!
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:wWFj0KnhIxUJ:www2.ac-ly...
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Note added at 32 mins (2008-05-13 19:05:19 GMT)
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SONNET 3 by Louise Labé
Long-felt desires, hopes as long as vain—
sad sighs—slow tears accustomed to run sad
into as many rivers as two eyes can add,
pouring like fountains, endless as the rain—
cruelty beyond humanity, a pain
so hard it makes compassionate stars go mad
with pity: these are the first passions I’ve had.
Do you think love could root in my soul again?
If it arched the great bow back again at me,
licked me again with fire, and stabbed me deep
with the violent worst, as awful as before,
the wounds that cut me everywhere would keep
me shielded, so there would be no place free
for love. It covers me. It will pierce no more.
[First published in the Norton Anthology of World Poetry, 2000]
CLICK LINK BELOW FOR MORE POEMS:
More Poems by Labé
Copyright ©2000 by Annie Finch
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Note added at 25 mins (2008-05-13 18:58:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
O longs desirs, ô esperances vaines,
Tristes soupirs et larmes coutumieres
A engendrer de moy maintes rivieres,
Dont mes deus yeus sont sources et fontaines:
O cruautez, ô durtez inhumaines,
Piteus regars des celestes lumieres:
Du coeur transi ô passions premieres,
Estimez vous croitre encore mes peines?
Qu'encor Amour su moy son arc essaie
Que nouveaus feus me gette et nouveaus dars:
Qu'il se despite, et pis qu'il pourra face:
Car je suis tant navree en toutes pars,
Que plus en moy une nouvelle plaie,
Pour m'empirer ne pourroit trouver place.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 25 mins (2008-05-13 18:58:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I am still looking. The refs may be irrelevant, but it helps me!
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2008-05-13 19:00:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Hi,
I have found the modern French equivalent to your verse ending in "pis qu'il pourra face"
Qu'Amour essaie encore son arc sur moi,
qu'il me jette de nouveaux feux et de nouvelles flèches,
qu'il se fâche, et qu'il fasse le pire qu'il pourra :
Let him get angry and let him do his worst
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2008-05-13 19:01:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
..
sorry
let love get angry and let love do its worst
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 29 mins (2008-05-13 19:01:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Here is the site where you have four verses in modern day French!
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:wWFj0KnhIxUJ:www2.ac-ly...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 32 mins (2008-05-13 19:05:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
SONNET 3 by Louise Labé
Long-felt desires, hopes as long as vain—
sad sighs—slow tears accustomed to run sad
into as many rivers as two eyes can add,
pouring like fountains, endless as the rain—
cruelty beyond humanity, a pain
so hard it makes compassionate stars go mad
with pity: these are the first passions I’ve had.
Do you think love could root in my soul again?
If it arched the great bow back again at me,
licked me again with fire, and stabbed me deep
with the violent worst, as awful as before,
the wounds that cut me everywhere would keep
me shielded, so there would be no place free
for love. It covers me. It will pierce no more.
[First published in the Norton Anthology of World Poetry, 2000]
CLICK LINK BELOW FOR MORE POEMS:
More Poems by Labé
Copyright ©2000 by Annie Finch
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
37 mins
Ewa Chojnowska
Works in field
roaming those boundless translatitudes
Native in: Polish 
Works in: Polish to English, English to Polish, French to Polish, and 8 more.
tous le vers: qu'il fasse le pire dont il est capable
As far as I remember from old french classes, 'face' is just exactly equivalent to 'fasse', so that would me more or less the desired translation. But of course it's up to you to arrange it somehow better to fit the poem frames:)
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Note added at 57 mins (2008-05-13 19:29:45 GMT)
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well, you know that a damn good part of French language actually IS latin. Can't help it:)
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Note added at 57 mins (2008-05-13 19:29:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
well, you know that a damn good part of French language actually IS latin. Can't help it:)
Note from asker:
| right - i was confused because there were two conjucated verbs together - that's why i thought "face" might not be "fasse" . I guess maybe it is a more latinate structure? |
| this is true(: |
-1
5 hrs
who can face it
face sometimes is similar to face in english, as in to confront something
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Susan Nicholls
: as in "faire face", but not in this context
8 hrs
|
|
no, more like as in en face de
|
Discussion
it is pure louise labe, but no accents - sorry US keyboard doesn't like to do that over the net....