by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)
Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Sweetheart, do not love too long
Language: English 
Our translations:  FRE
Sweetheart, do not love too long:
I loved long and long, 
And grew to be out of fashion
Like an old song. 

All through the years of our youth
Neither could have known 
Their own thought from the other's,
We were so much at one. 

But O, in a minute she changed --
O do not love too long, 
Or you will grow out of fashion
Like an old song.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   N. Rorem •   S. Wilkinson 

About the headline (FAQ)

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Confirmed with W. B. Yeats, Later Poems, Macmillan and Co., London, 1926, page 86.


Text Authorship:

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Researcher for this page: John Versmoren

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 72

Oh, n'aime pas trop longtemps
NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view
Language: French (Français)  after the English 
Mon amour, n'aime pas trop longtemps :
J' ai aimé longtemps et longtemps,
Et fini par passer de mode,
Comme une vieille chanson.

Pendant toutes les années de notre jeunesse
Aucun de nous n'aurait pu distinguer
Ses propres pensées de celles de l'autre,
Tant nous étions un.

Mais oh, elle a changé en une minute –
Oh, n'aime pas trop longtemps
Ou tu finiras par passer de mode,
Comme une vieille chanson.

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Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2016 by Pierre Mathé, (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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This text was added to the website: 2016-01-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 74