Le temps lointain | Comme le fantôme d'un cher ami mort

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by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

Time long past

Language: English

Our translations: FRE

Like the ghost of a dear friend dead
Is Time long past.
A tone which is now forever fled,
A hope which is now forever past,
A love so sweet it could not last, 
Was Time long past.

There were sweet dreams in the night
Of Time long past:
And, was it sadness or delight,
Each day a shadow onward cast  
Which made us wish it yet might last--
That Time long past.

There is regret, almost remorse,
For Time long past.
'Tis like a child's beloved corse 
A father watches, till at last
Beauty is like remembrance, cast
From Time long past.

Text Authorship:

by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "Time long past", first published 1870 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by G. Barrington-Baker , "Time long past", published 1924 [ SATB chorus ], no. 15125 [sung text not yet checked]
possibly by Emily M. Lawrence (1854 - ?), "Time long past", published 1879 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by John Storer , "Time long past", 1887, from Six Vocal Impromptus, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation possibly by (Karl) Wolfgang Müller von Königswinter (1816 - 1873); composed by Georg Lothar Liebling.
Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Roberto Ascoli ( flourished 1891-1930 ) ; composed by Ottorino Respighi.
Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Konstantin Dmitrevich Bal'mont (1867 - 1942) , "Минувшие дни" ; composed by Borys Mykolayovych Lyatoshynsky.
Also set in Ukrainian (Українська), a translation by Ivan Matveyevich Steshenko (1873 - 1918) ; composed by Borys Mykolayovych Lyatoshynsky.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le temps lointain", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2005-01-28
Line count: 18
Word count: 103

Le temps lointain

Language: French (Français) after the English

Comme le fantôme d'un cher ami mort
Est le temps lointain.
Une harmonie qui maintenant s'est enfuie pour toujours,
Un espoir qui maintenant est passé pour toujours,
Un amour si doux qu'il ne pouvait pas durer,
Étaient le temps lointain.

Il y avait de doux rêves dans la nuit
Du temps lointain :
Et, était-ce tristesse ou joie,
Chaque jour une ombre jetée en avant 
Qui nous faisait souhaiter qu'il puisse cependant durer --
Ce temps lointain.

Il y a du regret, presque du remords,
Pour le temps lointain.
C'est comme le corps bien-aimé d'un enfant mort
Qu'un père regarde, jusqu'à ce qu'à la fin
La beauté soit comme un souvenir, lancé
Du temps lointain.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2017 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

a text in English by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "Time long past", first published 1870
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-05-14
Line count: 18
Word count: 113