"Je puis trop bien ma dame comparer”, Guillaume de Machaut | TENET Vocal Artists

"Je puis trop bien ma dame comparer” (balade), Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 - 1377) The Cycle of Invention: THE NEW ART January 13, 2017 Tenri Cultural Institute, New York City Owen McIntosh, tenor Jason McStoots, tenor Andrew Padgett, bass Translation: I can too well compare my lady to the image made by Pygmalion. Of ivory it was, so beautiful and matchless that he loved it more than Medea loved Jason. The madman prayed to it every day, but the image answered him not a word. The one who melts my heart treats me the same, for I pray to her without cease and she never responds. Pygmalion, who thought he would die for love, prayed to his god with such passion that he beheld the coldness of the image turn to warmth, and its hard surface soften, for it came to life, became human flesh, and spoke sweetly. But my lady in this too much seeks my destruction, for I pray to her without cease and she never responds. Now may Love transmute hardness into softness in her to whom I have made a gift of my heart, and thaw her cold heart with my love, so that I might have a reward from her. But within her Love delights in a proud Disdain, and witnesses the great Desire that will kill me, so I believe that these three ensure that I pray to her without cease and she never responds.