Alphabetical List of my Brassens Songs

Please click on the song title to access your chosen song
  

Please note that when the title of the song begins with the definite article, I get the alphabetical order from the initial noun

L'assassinat    À l’ombre des maris A l'Ombre du Coeur de Ma Mie	A brutal and tragic tale involving a beautiful young prostitute, her pimp, and her elderly client Complications that arise from extra-marital relationships A self-pitying song of a man surprised in the house of another man's wife
Les amoureux des bancs publics	His view of the prudes who are offended by couples smooching on park benches.
Les Amours d'autan	Brassens loves of yesteryear did not have the fame and wealth of the women in Villon’s poem, but Brassens celebrates them.
Au bois de mon Coeur Auprès de mon arbre	A hymn to his loyal band of buddies.  This is a song that he wrote for René Clair's "La porte des lilas" - the only film in which Brassens had an acting part - the clip from the film is on YouTube In the comfort and affluence of middle age, Brassens is nostalgic about the ease and pleasures of his former years in Jeanne’s slum
Ballade des dames du temps jadis Le bistro	Brassens puts to music Villon’s very famous poem in which he reflects on human mortality while thinking of great and famous women of the past. Brassens gives an insulting description of a favourite bistrot in the unfashionable area of Paris where he lived with Jeanne.  Nevertheless the patron's wife is particularly desirable
Bonhomme Brave Margot	A peasant woman faces up to her tasks and her memories as her husband lies dying, but she has one final thing to do, to settle her personal account in the lifelong relationship that is ending Margot's public breastfeeding of her kitten causes ructions in the village
La Cane de Jeanne     Celui Qui A Mal Tourné	The (mock) solemn song he wrote when his beloved Jeanne’s pet duck died suddenly. A man who went badly wrong makes an enlightening discovery later in life about fundamental human goodness
Chanson pour l’Auvergnat	In grateful praise for those who showed him kindness when he was ostracised,
La Chasse aux papillons	A  tale starring Cinderella of passionate love which unusually for Brassens appears lasting
Les Châteaux de sable    with Mistral Gagnant Le Cocu	A song on the theme of the transitory pleasures of childhood and youth, followed by “Mistral Gagnant”, Jean Bertola’s song on the same theme, sung by the beautiful Vanessa Paradis. A cuckolded husband pleads to her lovers that they might grant him a little consideration and respect as they share the wife that he loves.
La complainte des filles de joie  Les Croquants        ------------------------ Colombine	In this somewhat light-hearted song about the lives of "filles de joie", Brassens delights in the irony that these humble girls, through their intimate liaison with upper class clients, establish a permanent hidden presence in families who despise them Brassens targets the daughters from toffee-nosed families who marry for money and praises a free-spirited girl who does it her way. His language is sometimes strong. --------------------------------------------------------- Brassens sets to music this melodic poem of Paul Verlaine, about the characters of the Italian mime theatre.
Les Copains d’abord      Cupidon s'en fout	Song dedicated to the loyalty of his close friends who joined Brassens on boating trips from Sète How a date turned out that had seemed to offer true love.  Again it's the problem of reciprocity in love.
Dans l’eau de la claire fontaine	A light charming song of a nymph-like girl swimming unclad in a forest pool.
Don Juan	A great womaniser is captivated by an unlikely girl, who puts him in the shade.
L'enterrement de Verlaine           L'epave	Brassens sings Paul Fort’s poem, of the funeral of  the great poet, Paul Verlaine- one of the most outstanding days of the Belle Époque in Paris A surprising re-appraisal of  loyalties in Brassens declining years.  He is telling of a real event in his life
Le Fantôme     La Femme d'Hector Fernande La Fessée        La Fille a cent sous	An encounter with a ghost gives Brassens a foretaste of delights in the afterlife The wife of a friend, so warmly praised in this song is probably Jeanne Brassens sings of the unreliable solace available to men when they find themselves in situations where they are deprived of women. The poet makes death a spectator as he and the widow of an old school friend make love at his wake. True love blossoms in the most discouraging and squalid circumstance.  Could this possibly represent the initiation of his lifelong love for Jeanne?
Gastibelza	This Brassens song is based on a poem by Victor Hugo, inspired by a Spanish folksong about a beautiful Moorish girl, Sabine, and her final choice of husband.
Le Gorille        Grand-père  La Guerre de 14- 18 La Prière	"Le Gorille," was Georges Brassens’ first single to appear.  It is an attack on capital punishment made at a time when murderers still faced the guillotine. His struggle to give his grandad a proper funeral faced with the indifference and even contempt of the better off An anti-war song, which satirically claims the 1914- 1918 war as the ideal war Brassens sings Francis Jammes's poem about all the trials and tribulations that all of God's creatures must suffer but at the end mentions life's joys
Heureux qui comme Ulysse	For this song, Brassens collaborated with the famous composer, Georges Delerue to provide the theme tune for the last film of the great French comic, Fernandel.
Il n’y a pas d’amour heureux	The lyrics of this song are taken from a very famous poem by Louis Aragon (1897-1982). It tells of deep love and the betrayals that occur.
Il suffit de passer le pont	This song tells of two young people who are both making love for the first time. This was the one song that Brassens included in every performance he gave.
J’ai rendez-vous avec vous	A young man’s all absorbing love for his passionate girl-friend. Brassens placed this in his list of songs, inspired by his love of Joha Heiman - his “Puppchen”
Jeanne	Brassens pays tribute to the generosity and boundless compassion of Jeanne Planche, who played a very major role in his life.
Je me suis fait tout petit Je suis un voyou	Georges Brassens describes how he has totally subordinated himself to his partner ( Joha Heiman).  Some see this as a love poem. A frank account of an early sexual encounter in his youth.  This time with a delectable girl called Margot.
La Légende de la nonne	Brassens puts to music Victor Hugo’s famous poem of the horrific divine punishment inflicted on a nun and her lover, according to Church Legend, for falling in love in breach of her vows.
Maman Papa La Marche Nuptiale..... La Marguerite	This loving tribute to his parents was Brassens' first ever recording.  He sings it in duet with Patachou, the charming young singing star who first brought him onstage A touching account of the poor wedding of the parents of Georges Brassens Scandal in a parish when a simple daisy fell from a priest’s prayer book.
La Marine         Marinette (J’avais l’air d’un c..)	Paul Fort's engaging poem telling how sailor's manage to conduct their love lives in the time limits of shore leave A jolly song about a hapless lover for whom everything goes wrong
Marquise	This song consists mainly of the love poem which the great classical playwright, Pierre Corneille, wrote in 1658 with the hope of seducing Moliere's famous actress: “Marquise.”  Her imagined reply is earthy.
La Mauvaise Herbe	Brassens sings his famous song in which he sees himself as  a social outcast.
La Mauvaise reputation  Le Mauvais sujet repenti	In this famous song Brassens tells the ways in which he is an outsider to conventional society A tale of false moral values of modern society where sex is for sale
Le Mécréant  Le temps ne fait rien  a l'affaire Misogynie à part	Brassens' trial of Blaise Pascal's religious code, leads him to conclude that there is little to choose morally between believers and non-believers Brassens humorously rejects a myth about human wisdom, liberally using one certain rude word in his argument. This song , which may shock, describes the complexities in the lovemaking of a sexually dysfunctional couple
Mourir pour des idées	If it is necessary for us to be bullied into dying for the great ideologies, Brassens pleads that we should not be expected to rush for the final sacrifice.
Le Nombril des femmes d'agent        La Non-demande en mariage	A humorous song about an old gentleman's obsession to see the belly button of a policeman's wife How a conventional married life would destroy the real quality of his relationship with his partner.
Oncle Archibald	Kind hopes for active love in the afterlife for one of life’s eccentrics who has been violently taken from them by a violent death
L'orage	An extraordinary thunderstorm brings him together with another man’s wife for a night of extraordinary passion.
Le Parapluie	A shared umbrella gives him a chance meeting with an attractive woman.
Les Passantes	This song based on a sensitive poem by Antoine Pol speaks of the passing acquaintances of life who linger in the memory.  This is a song beloved by many people
Pauvre Martin	One of life’s eccentrics who expected very little of life and was granted it.
Pénélope Pensées des morts	How the world of fantasy and imagination can bring tangible solace to the lonely A song composed from six verses by one of France’s very greatest poets, Alphonse de Lamartine ( 1790 – 1869) – After the final parting, undying love can only be manifested within an endless awareness of loss.
Le Petit Cheval        Le Petit Joueur de Flûtiau	A catchy song from Paul Fort’s famous poem tells how a white horse brought a brief experience of beauty to a bleak world. A tale of how the the King sought to ennoble his talented flautist, who was head of his music and how the humble man responded.  The song is Brassens' statement about the acceptance of honours from the ruling elite.
Les PhilistinsLes Philistinsl	A charming song from the poem of Jean Richepin describing what became of the son that (philistine) middle class parents had determinedly brought up to be a lawyer.
Le Pornographe	Brassens is entrapped by public expectations to produce material that shocks.  To those who condemn the morality of his works, Brassens invites a comparison with true evil, perpetrated historically by Church and State.
La Première fille    La Princesse et le croque-notes	His recollection of his first experience of making love leads him to conclude that the first girl you make love to is the last you will ever forget. Brassens feels deep and disturbing emotions caused by the recollection of his reactions on the occasion when, many years ago,he had rejected the advances of a beautiful 13 year old girl to whom life had been heinously unkind.
Putain de toi	His strength of resentment shows the passion he had felt for Jo, the seventeen year old beauty, during their 14 month affair.
Quatre-vingt quinze pour cent	A typically frank song about the unequal levels of desire found in couples during lovemaking
La religieuse Rien à jeter La Ronde des jurons La Rose , La Bouteille et la Poignee de main	The attendance of a beautiful nun at mass causes  wild sexual fantasies among the male members of the congregation He would not change one thing about the woman he loves.  A song Brassens includes in his list of tributes to Joha Heiman. Celebrating the anarchic wealth of French swearing in the past and deploring its present decline. Brassens is unhappy that spontaneous, warm and friendly approaches to strangers are now being ruled out as abusive by excessive social correctness.
Les Sabots d'Hélène  Saturne	Words from the popular song inspire his charming song of admiration for the lady of his local bistro. Brassens celebrates the charms of the mature woman and the comforts of love that can be enjoyed in the Indian Summer of life.  A song dedicated to Joha Heiman
Si le bon dieu avait voulu	The song is based on Paul Fort’s simple and sincere love poem to the woman who meant everything in his life.
Supplique pour être enterré	Brassens writes with wit, imagination and nostalgia about his birthplace and the love, friendship and enjoyment he had found there and he forms his own singular idea of life after death.
La Tondue	Brassens deplores mob justice after the Liberation in the shaving of the heads of women accused of fraternisation.
Le Testament       La traîtresse	A story about a funeral cortege that lost its way gave him the idea of a funeral playing truant and reminded him  of the need to make his own will. A complacent lover who had come to see  his married mistress as his personal possession suffers a shattering disillusionment
Trompe la mort	Brassens at 55 says his ageing  as reported in the press is mere deception as also would be any report of his death and burial.
les Trompettes de la renommée	This song shows Brassens at his most shocking and offensive as he reacts strongly against the suggestion of using personal revelations to give him publicity in the media
Une jolie fleur	Brassens shows his hurt at the infidelity of Jo, the stunning seventeen year old girl with whom he had an affair in1945-1946.
Le Vent    Venus Callipyge	Jolly song about the windy Pont des Arts in Paris A song to Venus Kallipygos of the Ancients.  The statues of her focus on the beauty of her rear view and Brassens discourses on this theme

Quatre-vingt quinze pour cent

This is a fascinating and typically frank song about disparities between the sexes during lovemaking. From other songs of this period we are aware that Brassens felt there was not enough physical love in his life. The first verse of this poem seems to continue this theme as the poet laments the lack of sincere response in the vast majority of women. However the poem leads him in different directions until as a final irony, he becomes the ally of the unresponsive woman faking it. In view of this outcome, I have chosen first an excellent recording made by a woman, Dorothée Berryman. 

Quatre-vingt quinze pour cent

La femme qui possède tout en elle Pour donner le goût des fêtes charnelles, La femme qui suscite en nous tant de passions brutales, La femme est avant tout sentimentale. Main dans la main les longues promenades, Les fleurs, les billets doux, les sérénades, Les crimes, les folies que pour ses beaux yeux l'on commet, La transportent, mais... Quatre-vingt-quinze fois sur cent, La femme s'emmerde en baisant(1). Qu'elle le taise ou le confesse C'est pas tous les jours qu'on lui déride les fesses(2). Les pauvres bougres convaincus Du contraire sont des cocus. À l'heure de l'oeuvre de chair(3) Elle est souvent triste, peuchère! S'il n'entend le coeur qui bat, Le corps non plus ne bronche pas. Sauf quand elle aime un homme avec tendresse, Toujours sensible alors à ses caresses, Toujours bien disposée, toujours encline à s'émouvoir, Elle s'emmerd' sans s'en apercevoir. Ou quand elle a des besoins tyranniques, Qu'elle souffre de nymphomanie chronique, C'est ell' qui fait alors passer à ses adorateurs De fichus quarts d'heure(4). Quatre-vingt-quinze fois sur cent, La femme s'emmerde en baisant. Qu'elle le taise ou le confesse C'est pas tous les jours qu'on lui déride les fesses. Les pauvres bougres convaincus Du contraire sont des cocus. À l'heure de l'oeuvre de chair Elle est souvent triste, peuchère ! S'il n'entend le coeur qui bat, Le corps non plus ne bronche pas. Les "encore", les "c'est bon", les "continue" Qu'ell' crie pour simuler qu'ell' monte aux nues, C'est pure charité, les soupirs des anges ne sont En général que de pieux mensonges. C'est à seule fin que son partenaire Se croie un amant extraordinaire, Que le coq imbécile et prétentieux perché dessus Ne soit pas déçu. Quatre-vingt-quinze fois sur cent, La femme s'emmerde en baisant. Qu'elle le taise ou le confesse C'est pas tous les jours qu'on lui déride les fesses. Les pauvres bougres convaincus Du contraire sont des cocus. À l'heure de l'oeuvre de chair Elle est souvent triste, peuchère ! S'il n'entend le coeur qui bat, Le corps non plus ne bronche pas. J'entends aller bon train les commentaires De ceux qui font des châteaux à Cythère(5) : "C'est parce que tu n'es qu'un malhabile, un maladroit, Qu'elle conserve toujours son sang-froid. » Peut-être, mais si les assauts vous pèsent De ces petits m'as-tu-vu-quand-je-baise(6), Mesdames, en vous laissant manger le plaisir sur le dos(7), Chantez in petto... Quatre-vingt-quinze fois sur cent, La femme s'emmerde en baisant. Qu'elle le taise ou le confesse C'est pas tous les jours qu'on lui déride les fesses. Les pauvres bougres convaincus Du contraire sont des cocus. À l'heure de l'oeuvre de chair Elle est souvent triste, peuchère ! S'il n'entend le coeur qui bat, Le corps non plus ne bronche pas.  Georges Brassens 1972 - Fernande

The woman who’s got all it takes To offer the spice of carnal joys, The woman who excites in us so many passions brute, The woman is above all sentimental. Hand in hand the lengthy strolls together. The flowers, the billets doux, the serenades, The crimes, the follies one commits just for her beauty, They delight her but….. Ninety five times out of hundred The woman turns off while coupling. Whether she tells or keeps quiet Not every day are her lower parts set a-tingle. The poor blokes who are convinced Of the opposite are just fooled. At times for the work of the flesh She is often sad, poor dear. If he can’t hear her heart thumping, Her body’s not budging either. Except when she loves with true affection Always sensitive to his loving touch Always inclined and well-disposed to show true emotion She turns right off, without knowing. Or else when she has needs so overwhelming, That she suffers chronic sexual desire It‘s she the one who deals out to the men who adore her Wretched experiences. Ninety five times out of hundred The woman turns off while coupling. Whether she tells or keeps quiet Not every day are her lower parts set a-tingle. The poor blokes who are convinced Of the opposite are just fooled. At times for the work of the flesh She is often sad, poor dear. If he can’t hear her heart thumping, Her body’s not budging either. The “Agains” », the “That’ s nice”, the “Keep going”s She shrieks to pretend she’s up in the clouds That is pure charity and the angelic sighs Are, in general, merely pious lies Whose sole aim is that her partner Believes he’s an extraordinary lover. That the imbecilic, pretentious cock perched on top Is not disappointed. Ninety five times out of hundred The woman turns off while coupling. Whether she tells or keeps quiet Not every day are her lower parts set a-tingle. The poor blokes who are convinced Of the opposite are just fooled. At times for the work of the flesh She is often sad, poor dear. If he can’t hear her heart thumping, Her body’s not budging either. I can hear comments that come flooding in From those who build their castles in Cythère “It is only because you do it wrong with no technique That she can always keep her self-control “ Perhaps, but if the assaults come on hard From little « Have you seen me when I shag?”s, Ladies, letting yourselves eat up the pleasure, while supine Sing under your breath…… Ninety five times out of hundred The woman turns off while coupling. Whether she tells or keeps quiet Not every day are her lower parts set a-tingle. The poor blokes who are convinced Of the opposite are just fooled. At times for the work of the flesh She is often sad, poor dear. If he can’t hear her heart thumping, Her body’s not budging either

TRANSLATION NOTES
(1) en baisant - I get criticised  (see comments below) for avoiding the direct , everyday English translation of the verb baiser q’n, but I think "while fucking" would shock an English audience a bit too much.  In French "un baiser" means "a kiss"  and gives the word a gentle association.  The noun and verb in English mean just the one thing and are absolutely blunt.

(2) qu'on lui déride les fesses – The play of words is from the expression ; »dérider le front à quelqu’un. Taking the furrows from the brow means restoring a state of happiness, and by the change from brow to bum, we understand that it is sexual pleasure.

(3) l'oeuvre de chair - One of the standard circumlocutions of the Vatican for “to have sex” was “faire oeuvre de chair”.

(4) De fichus quarts d'heure. - Quart d’heure is used in French to express a short strained period of time, e.g.( from Robert): Il lui a fait passer un mauvais quart d’heure”. = “He gave her a bad time”. In this second verse the poet seems to have had the realisation or recollection that the imbalance of passion could be the other way round. It is perhaps another manifestation of the principle which is stated (at its extreme surely!) in the famous epigram: “There are two parties to a love-transaction: the one who loves and the other who condescends to be loved.”

(5) Des châteaux à Cythère – To get lost in a dream world is to build castles in the air. A reference to Cythère is sneaked in, because in Ancient Greece, the island of Cythera was seen as the birthplace of Venus. From this it came to represent a meeting place for sexual dissipation See Brassens’ song: “Les Amours d’Autan”

(6) ces petits m'as-tu-vu-quand-je-baise. This is Brassens’ own composite word for the macho men, who go around boasting about their expertise in making love. Previously, in translating “baiser” in the refrain, I had declined to use the direct translation. Here to translate “baise” the last element in his neologism, I think a more uncouth word from their everyday vocabulary is appropriate.

(7) le plaisir sur le dos - Brassens is recommending women to use the relatively passive missionary position. In the first verse he had been impatient at the lack of responsiveness of his female partners. However by the last verse he had changed round completely and was advising them to take silent revenge on macho men, by lying inert and thinking mischievously of the 95 per cent of their fellow women doing the same.

This is a recording of Georges Brassens singing this song

The very pretty French film star Emmanuelle Bejart also had thoughts on this topic:

The famous American writer, Dorothy Parker, dealt with this theme in her poem:"Ballade at thirty-five" and Carla Bruni,made it a song on her album "No Promises".  Click on the previous title for a link.

Click here to return to the full index of Brassens songs with translation

Corneille's proposition to Moliere's leading lady- with rude answer he deserved.

Marquise
This song is based mainly on a love poem which the great classical playwright, Pierre Corneille, wrote in 1658, when he was about fifty-two. Like a lot of other men of the time, he was strongly attracted to a beautiful actress in Molière’s theatrical troupe, Mme. Thérèse Du Parc, whose husband was an actor in the same company. She had been given the nickname “Marquise” – Marchioness.

In order to proposition Marquise in verse, Corneille, perhaps surprisingly, chose to deal directly with the great disparity in their ages. It is a theme that he develops over eight verses (but Brassens only uses the first three). Corneille tells her that, although it is the inevitable fate of all humans to grow old, if she joins with him, her beauty will be known for a thousand years, not from seeing her but from the words of admiration that he will pen. Readers of this poem are sometimes worried by Corneille’s conceited presumption of his immortal genius and suggest that it is a poem of self-parody. Corneille had a sense of humour and wrote a few comedies as well as his famous classical tragedies. However, Georges Brassens prefers to take him lterally, and after singing three verses from the poem, he adds a comic final verse, written by Tristan Bernard, in which Marquise tells the self-important tragedian what to do with his offer.

Marquise (1)

Marquise(2), si mon visage A quelques traits un peu vieux, Souvenez-vous qu'à mon âge Vous ne vaudrez guère mieux. Le temps aux plus belles choses Se plaît à faire un affront Et saura faner vos roses(3) Comme il a ridé mon front. Le même cours des planètes Règle nos jours et nos nuits On m'a vu ce que vous êtes Vous serez ce que je suis (4) (Le prochain couplet est la réponse imaginée de Marquise écrite par Tristan Bernard) Peut-être que je serai vieille, Répond Marquise, cependant J’ai vingt-cinq ans, mon vieux Corneille (6) Et je t'emmerde en attendant !

If Marquise you find that my face Has some features a trifle old Remind yourself that at my age You will be scarcely better off. On the most beautiful things, time Enjoys launching its affront And ‘ll manage to fade your roses As he has wrinkled my brow It’s the same course of the planets That rules over our days and nights. To me you’re seen just as you are You will be just as I am. (The next verse is an imagined reply for Marquise composed by Tristan Bernard) “Perhaps I will be old one day, Says Marquise in reply « however I’m twenty-five, Corneille old chap, And right now you can go'n get stuffed!”

TRANSLATION NOTES

(1) The traditional theme of this poem. Critics relate this poem of Corneille to a theme that recurs constantly in poetry and is put under the label of “Carpe Diem” meaning “pluck the day”. Life is so short that we must seize the moment, in the manner of reaching out and picking an apple when it is sweet and ripe.

(2) Marquise – Carpe Diem started traditionally with a dedication to a woman, in this case Mme. Thérèse Du Parc, whose nickname was “Marquise”

(3) Vos roses –A standard image in Carpe Diem poems was the fading of roses.


(4) ce que vous êtes……….. ce que je suis – the name given to this figure of speech popular with poets at that time is a “chiasmus”. It is defined as a verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed. There are many examples of this structure in the bible e.g. in Matthew 19:30: “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”

(5) Peut-être que je serai vieille - In fact Marquise never became old. In 1667 she gave birth to a baby girl but within weeks she was pregnant again. This time she decided to terminate but the abortion went wrong and she died on the 11th of December 1668 at the age of 35 when she was at the height of her career. In 1667, she had achieved her lifetime ambition, starring in a successful classical tragedy. The role of Andromaque had been written especially for her by her lover, the great classical playwright, Racine, when he was seeking to entice her to him.

(6) J’ai vingt-cinq ans mon vieux Corneille – In this reply given to her by Tristan Bernard, Marquise points out the irony that the theme of carpe diem that he has chosen for his poem is apt for her as she is ripe for love, but Corneille is ruled out as his day is long gone. (Personal comment- 52 years was old age then but is the prime of life now!)

(7) je t'emmerde – I am grateful for the comment below that corrected my original translation and gave me some alternatives.  The French dictionary that I referred to told me that it is a very offensive expression - as can be seen by the reference to "merde".  It is used to tell some-one to get out of your sight, as they are nothing to you - in fact just a pile of ****  I see it is as much more than a vulgar expletive -events may defeat us and love may betray us, but by our defiance we can show the life we love that we can play it at its own game.

Tristan Bernard puts a very unladylike word in the mouth of this young lady who was referred to as “Marchioness”. In fact we should not too readily assume gentility of manners from her nickname. She was a young actress in a troupe of travelling players. Even though the King himself was a patron of the theatre, the French Church condemned it as a dishonourable activity and refused Christian burial even for the most eminent actresses of the age. Marquise may not have set a very virtuous example as she was particularly subject to temptation from the great and the famous. As an outstanding beauty she was coveted by a large number of men and was apparently not always reluctant with her favours. We read that in the early years when she had to be satisfied with modest roles in Molière’s plays, she excelled as a dancer. Larousse quotes the theatrical notes of a member of the audience which tells us that she did not lay too great store on her personal dignity: "She made some notable antics, because we saw her legs and part of her thighs through its split skirt on both sides, with silk stockings attached to the top of panties”. No doubt she was very capable of the earthy repartee that Bernard imagined for her.

On reviewing the life story of Moliere's star actress, I found myself thinking of Marilyn Monroe. The sadness of the fate of Thérèse Du Parc, like Marilyn the hapless, beautiful plaything of the rich and famous, made me see her as another candle in the wind.


CARPE DIEM IN LITERATURE

The two words “Carpe Diem” are taken from an ode of the Roman poet, Horace. The full line reads “Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero” – "Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the future",
In English literature a poem by Robert Herrick, 1591–1674 gives a very clear illustration of this theme. The message of Herrick's poem: “To the Virgins, to make much of Time” , is that life is short, the world is beautiful, love is wonderful, and we must use the little time we have to make the most of our lot. I print Herrick’s poem below:

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.

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