To cure me of an ancient dream

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by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Pour me guérir d'un ancien songe

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Pour me guérir d'un ancien songe,
Ô Tsiganes, jouez un air,
Sombre et large, où se noie et plonge 
Mon âme, comme dans la mer! 

Faites vibrer, comme une corde,
Mon âme triste, à la briser ;
Je veux une chanson qui morde 
Avec la douceur d'un baiser ;

Et me rappelant ses paroles,
Et les caresses de sa voix, 
Qui m'arrache des larmes folles,
Comme nos serments d'autrefois !

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Jean Lahor, L'Illusion, 3rd edition, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1893, page 113.

Text Authorship:

by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Air tsigane", appears in L'Illusion, in 1. Chants de l'Amour et de la Mort, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1875 [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 Albert Bertelin (1872 - 1951), "Air tzigane" [ high voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 1, Éd. Loret Fils et H. Freytag [sung text not yet checked]
by Charlotte Devéria, née Thomas (1856 - 1885), "Air tsigane" [ medium voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, 3^ème recueil, no. 10, Éd. "Au Ménestrel", Heugel [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2016-12-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 68

To cure me of an ancient dream

Language: English after the French (Français)

To cure me of an ancient dream,
O Gypsies, play a tune,
Dark and broad, where my soul may dive
And drown itself, as in the sea!

Make my sad soul, like a string,
Vibrate until it breaks;
I want a song that will bite
With the tenderness of a kiss;

And that, recalling to me its words,
And the caresses of her voice,
Will draw from me foolish tears,
Like our vows of years past!

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Translations of titles:
"Air tsigane" = "Gypsy Tune"
"Air tzigane" = "Gypsy Tune"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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 Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Air tsigane", appears in L'Illusion, in 1. Chants de l'Amour et de la Mort, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1875
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-06-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 77