Pour qu'à l'espérance il ne cède, J'ai muré mon cœur révolté Dans la morne fidélité Du souvenir qui le possède. Vers l'horizon où l'aube a lui, Pour qu'un vain rêve ne l'emporte, Comme une inexorable porte, J'ai fermé le Passé sur lui. J'ai dit : Ma part me fut comptée D'aimer sans en pouvoir mourir. -- L'ombre est douce à qui veut souffrir ; Que me ferait l'aube enchantée ? Puisque ne peut m'être rendu L'heur de revoir le doux visage Qui fut ma joie et mon courage Et que, perdant, j'ai tout perdu !
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Les Renaissances par Armand Silvestre, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1870, pages 113-115.
Authorship:
- by Armand Silvestre (1837 - 1901), no title, appears in Les Renaissances, in 5. À travers l'âme, in 2. Le Passé, no. 4, 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 Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912), "Pour qu'à l'espérance" [ voice and piano ], from Poème du souvenir, no. 5, Paris, Éd. J. Heugel, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alexis Jean Hubert Rostand (1844 - 1919), "Pour qu'à l'espérance il ne cède" [ high voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, no. 15, Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel et Fils [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Georg Friedrich Reiß (1823 - 1884) ; composed by Jules Massenet.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Jean-Pierre Granger)
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 94
So that my appalled heart doesn't yield to hope, I have built a wall around it, In the gloomy loyalty To the memory that possesses it. Toward the horizon where the Morning glowed, In hope that no futile dream takes it away, Like a unforgiving door, I closed the Past to it. I said: My fate has been set for me, To love without being able to die from it; The shade is sweet for he who wants to suffer. What would the enchanted Morning do to me? -- Since the hour cannot be given back to me To see again that gentle face That was my Joy and my Courage; [For] by losing it, I lost everything!
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "Pour qu'à l'espérance" = "So that my appalled heart doesn't yield to hope"
Note: the translator has released this translation into the public domain.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English by Jean-Pierre Granger
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Armand Silvestre (1837 - 1901), no title, appears in Les Renaissances, in 5. À travers l'âme, in 2. Le Passé, no. 4, first published 1870
This text was added to the website: 2010-10-21
Line count: 16
Word count: 117