Clement Marot on Singing Psalms

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VirginiaHuguenot

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From Marot's Psalter:

O bien heureux qui voir pourra
Fleurir le temps, que l'on orra
Le laboureur a sa charrue
Le charretier parmy la rue,
Et l'artisan en sa boutique
Avecques un PSEAUME ou cantique,
En son labeur se soulager;
Heureux qui orra le berger
Et la bergere en bois estans
Faire que rochers et estangs
Apres eux chantent la hauteur
Du saint nom de leurs Createur.
Commencez, dames, commencez
Le siecle, dore! avancez!
En chantant d'un cueur debonnaire,
Dedans ce saint cancionnaire.

Thrice-happy they, who shall behold,
And listen in that age of gold!
As by the plough the labourer strays,
And earman mid the public ways,
And tradesman in his shop shall swell
Their voice in Psalm or Canticle,
Sing to solace toil; again,
From woods shall come a sweeter strain
Shepherd and shepherdess shall vie
In many a tender Psalmody;
And the Creator's name prolong
As rock and stream return their song!
Begin then, ladies fair! begin
The age renew'd that knows no sin!
And with light heart, that wants no wing,
Sing! from this holy song-book, sing!
 
Every Sunday we sing from the Genevan Psalter, so naturally this caught my attention.

Thanks for sharing that! What's the source? Did you do the translation yourself?
 
Every Sunday we sing from the Genevan Psalter, so naturally this caught my attention.

Thanks for sharing that! What's the source? Did you do the translation yourself?

You're welcome! The source (and the translation) is Isaac D'Israeli's essay on "Psalm-singing," in Curiosities of Literature (1859), Vol. 2, pp. 475-476. He attributes it to a poetic dedication in Marot's Psalter entitled "Aux Dames de France."
 
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