Myrto | Myrto knows nothing of songs

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by Armand Silvestre (1837 - 1901)

Translation © by Garrett Medlock

Myrto ne sait pas de chansons

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Myrto ne sait pas de chansons :
Les filles la trouvent sauvage.
-- On la fuit, -- et les beaux garçons
Ne l'embrassent pas au passage.

Elle s'en va loin des maisons,
S'asseoir près de la mer immense.
Nul ne regrette son absence :
Myrto ne sait pas de chansons.

Noël vient, vêtu de glaçons :
On danse autour du feu qui brille ;
-- Nul n'invite la pauvre fille --
Myrto ne sait pas de chansons.

Mais elle sait le chant austère
Qui vibre au cœur silencieux,
Et que n'écoute point la terre :
-- Myrto sait la chanson des cieux ?

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• L. Delibes

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Confirmed with Poésies de Armand Silvestre, 1866-1872, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1880, page 68.

Text Authorship:

by Armand Silvestre (1837 - 1901), no title, appears in Poésies 1861-1874, in 1. Les amours, in 2. Vers pour être chantés, in Myrto, no. 3, first published 1866 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-02-09
Line count: 16
Word count: 94

Myrto

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Language: English after the French (Français)

Myrto knows nothing of songs,
The girls find her untamed.
They flee from her, and the handsome boys
Do not kiss her in passing by.

She goes far from the houses,
Sitting near the immense sea.
No one regrets her absence:
Myrto knows nothing of songs.

Christmas comes, dressed in icicles:
Everyone dances around the fire which shines;
No one invites the poor girl.
Myrto knows nothing of songs.

But she knows the austere singing
Which resonates in the silent heart,
And which the earth does not heed:
Does Myrto know the song of the skies?

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Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 by Garrett Medlock, (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 Armand Silvestre (1837 - 1901), no title, appears in Poésies 1861-1874, in 1. Les amours, in 2. Vers pour être chantés, in Myrto, no. 3, first published 1866
- Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2019-02-09
Line count: 16
Word count: 97