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Poem of a day
Translations © by Michael P Rosewall
Song Cycle by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)
View original-language texts alone: Poëme d'un jour
J'étais triste et pensif quand je t'ai rencontrée, Je sens moins aujourd'hui mon obstiné tourment; Ô dis-moi, serais-tu la femme inespérée, Et le rêve idéal poursuivi vainement? Ô, passante aux doux yeux, serais-tu donc l'amie Qui rendrait le bonheur au poète isolé, Et vas-tu rayonner sur mon âme affermie, Comme le ciel natal sur un coeur d'exilé? Ta tristesse sauvage, à la mienne pareille, Aime à voir le soleil décliner sur la mer! Devant l'immensité ton extase s'éveille, Et le charme des soirs à ta belle âme est cher; Une mystérieuse et douce sympathie Déjà m'enchaîne à toi comme un vivant lien, Et mon âme frémit, par l'amour envahie, Et mon coeur te chérit sans te connaître bien!
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Jean Grandmougin (1850 - 1930), written 1874
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I was so sad and wistful when you and I first met; Today, I feel less of that unyielding torment. O tell me, could you be that unexpected woman, The lovely chimera that I have sought in vain? O, wayfarer of such gentle eye, are you that friend Who will return happiness to this lonely poet? And will you shine on my reawakening soul Like the skies of home upon an exile’s heart? Your untamed sorrow, like my own, Is fond of watching the sun set over the sea! Its magnitude evokes rapture within you, And the evening’s allure is dear to your beautiful soul; A curious and sweet affinity Already links me to you with a living connection. My soul shudders, suffused with passion, And my heart, not fully knowing you, yet cherishes you!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2018 by Michael P Rosewall, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Jean Grandmougin (1850 - 1930), written 1874
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2018-04-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 135
Vous me demandez de me taire, De fuir loin de vous pour jamais, Et de m'en aller, solitaire, Sans me rappeler qui j'aimais! Demandez plutôt aux étoiles De tomber dans l'immensité, À la nuit de perdre ses voiles, Au jour de perdre sa clarté, Demandez à la mer immense De dessécher ses vastes flots, Et, quand les vents sont en démence, D'apaiser ses sombres sanglots! Mais n'espérez pas que mon âme S'arrache à ses âpres douleurs Et se dépouille de sa flamme Comme le printemps de ses fleurs!
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Jean Grandmougin (1850 - 1930), written 1874
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You tell me to hold my silence, To remain apart from you forever, And to make my own way, alone, Without ever bringing who I love to mind! You might as well ask the stars To fall into the void, Tell the night to forsake its shades, The day to abandon its splendor. Tell the immeasurable ocean To dry its boundless floods, And tell the winds, when they are howling, To cease their melancholy sobbing! But, do not expect that my soul Could uproot such bitter sadness And cast off its flames As the Springtime does it flowers!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2018 by Michael P Rosewall, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Jean Grandmougin (1850 - 1930), written 1874
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2018-04-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 98
Comme tout meurt vite, la rose Déclose, Et les frais manteaux diaprés Des prés; Les longs soupirs, les bienaimées, Fumées! On voit dans ce monde léger Changer, Plus vite que les flots des grèves, Nos rêves, Plus vite que le givre en fleurs, Nos coeurs! À vous l'on se croyait fidèle, Cruelle, Mais hélas! les plus longs amours Sont courts! Et je dis en quittant vos charmes, Sans larmes, Presqu'au moment de mon aveu, Adieu!
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Jean Grandmougin (1850 - 1930), written 1874
Go to the general single-text view
Everything dies so quickly; the rose Abloom, And the freshly dappled cloaks Of the meadows, Deep sighs, those we love well, Wisps of smoke! One can see, in this insubstantial world, Everything changing; More rapidly than waves upon the sand, Our dreams, More suddenly than the branching frost, Our hearts! I may have believed myself faithful to you, Cruel one, But, alas! The most abiding loves Are brief! And I say, upon abandoning your charms, Without tears, Just at the moment of my confession, Farewell!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2018 by Michael P Rosewall, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Jean Grandmougin (1850 - 1930), written 1874
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2018-04-10
Line count: 20
Word count: 86