Closed eyes | When your closed eyes no longer see

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by Gaston Maurice Buchillot

Translation © by Peter Low

Les yeux clos

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG GER

Quand tes yeux clos ne verront plus
Les lieux charmeurs où nous aimâmes,
J'aurai des sanglots plein mon âme,
Quand tes yeux clos ne verront plus.
Sous le poids lourd des destinées,
Courbant un front qui se souvient,
Ton souvenir restera mien,
Dans le tourbillon des années.
Quand tes yeux clos ne verront plus
Les fleurs qui s'ouvraient pour te plaire,
J'en couvrirai ta tombe chère,
Quand tes yeux clos ne verront plus !

Note: beware - "poids" (line 5) is misspelled as "pied" in various places online and in at least one print source.

Text Authorship:

by Gaston Maurice Buchillot [author's text not yet checked 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), "Les yeux clos", 1905, published 1905. [voice, cello, and piano] [ sung text verified 1 time]

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

ENG English (Peter Low) , title 1: "Closed eyes", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , title 1: "Gebrochene Augen", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Low [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-02-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 73

Closed eyes

Language: English after the French (Français)

When your closed eyes no longer see
the charming places where we shared our love,
my soul will be full of sobs,
when your closed eyes no longer see.
Beneath the heavy weight of destiny
As I bow a head that remembers the past,
my memory of you will stay with me
through the vortex of the passing years.
When your closed eyes no longer see
the flowers that opened to give you pleasure,
I will strew them on your cherished tomb
when your closed eyes no longer see!

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 by Peter Low, (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 Gaston Maurice Buchillot
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-06-02
Line count: 12
Word count: 89