Song for April | All night long the light rain

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by Anna Elizabeth Mathieu, Comtesse de Noailles (1876 - 1933)

Translation © by Corinne Orde

Chanson pour Avril

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Toute la nuit la pluie légère
A glissé par jets et par bonds.
Viens respirer au bois profond
L'odeur de la verdure amère.

Ton coeur est triste, morne et las,
Comme la naissante journée.
Elle sera bientôt fanée,
L'amoureuse odeur des lilas.

Aujourd'hui l'âme apitoyée
Sent pleurer son vague tourment.
Viens écouter l'égouttement
Des feuilles mortes et mouillées.

Text Authorship:

by Anna Elizabeth Mathieu, Comtesse de Noailles (1876 - 1933), "Chanson pour Avril", written 1901, appears in Le Cœur innombrable, first published [1901] [author's text not yet checked 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 Louis Vierne (1870 - 1937), "Chanson pour Avril", op. 60 no. 4 (1930), published 1946 [ voice, harp ], from Quatre Poèmes Grecs, no. 4, Éd. Salabert [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Corinne Orde) , "Song for April", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Geoffrey Wieting

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 58

Song for April

Language: English after the French (Français)

All night long the light rain
Poured in gushes and spurts.
Come and breathe in the deep wood
The scent of the bitter greenery.

Your heart is sad, dejected and weary,
Like the dawning day.
It will soon fade,
That loving scent of the lilacs.

Today the soul moved to pity
Feels the weeping of its vague torment.
Come and hear the drips falling
From the dead and wet leaves.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2008 by Corinne Orde, (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 French (Français) by Anna Elizabeth Mathieu, Comtesse de Noailles (1876 - 1933), "Chanson pour Avril", written 1901, appears in Le Cœur innombrable, first published [1901]
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-21
Line count: 12
Word count: 70