Mille Regretz


Mille Regretz is a French chanson which in its 4 part setting is usually credited to Josquin des Prez. Josquin's version is in the Phrygian mode. Its plangent simplicity made it a popular basis for reworkings, the variations for vihuela known as "La Canción del Emperador" by Luis de Narváez, as well as more recent sets of variations and threnody. Translations of the song differ in their interpretation of the words 'fache/face amoureuse' in line 2.

Text:
Mille regretz de vous abandonner
Et d'eslonger vostre fache amoureuse,
Jay si grand dueil et paine douloureuse,
Quon me verra brief mes jours definer.
In Modern French:
Mille regrets de vous abandonner
et d’être éloigné de votre visage amoureux.
J’ai si grand deuil et peine douloureuse
qu’on me verra vite mourir.
English Translation:
A thousand regrets at deserting you
and leaving behind your loving face,
I feel so much sadness and such painful distress,
that it seems to me my days will soon dwindle away.

The authorship of the original as by Josquin is sometimes disputed.
The chanson was said to be a favorite of King Charles I of Spain.