The memory of having sung | The memory of having sung

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Catulle Mendès (1841 - 1909)

Translation © by Garrett Medlock

Le souvenir d'avoir chanté

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CHI ENG

Le souvenir d'avoir chanté
Au soleil, sous l'azur céleste,
Est l'infini trésor qui reste
Aux cigales après l'été.

Quel est, vieux gitane éreinté,
Ton recours quand tout te moleste?
Le souvenir d'avoir chanté
Au soleil sous l'azur céleste!

Quand un autre aura ta beauté,
Mésange, et ton rire et ton geste,
Mon coeur, en son ombre funeste,
Gardera, comme une clarté,
Le souvenir d'avoir chanté.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Catulle Mendès (1841 - 1909), "Il pense qu'il se consolera lorsque Mésange se sera envolée", appears in Les vaines amours, in 3. Les amours de Mésange, no. 8, Paris, Bibliothèque Charpentier, Éd. Eugène Fasquelle, first published 1892 [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 Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947), "Le souvenir d'avoir chanté", 1898?, published 1898 [ medium voice and piano ], from Douze rondels, no. 12, from Mélodies - 2ème volume, no. 6, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , "The memory of having sung", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 65

The memory of having sung

Language: English after the French (Français)

The memory of having sung
In the sun under the heavenly blue sky
Is the infinite treasure which rests
With the cicadas after the summer.

What is, old, exhausted gypsy,
Your recourse when everything troubles you?
The memory of having sung
In the sun under the heavenly blue sky!

When another will have your beauty,
Titmouse, and your laugh and your movement,
My heart in its gloomy shadow
Will keep, like a light,
The memory of having sung.

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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Catulle Mendès (1841 - 1909), "Il pense qu'il se consolera lorsque Mésange se sera envolée", appears in Les vaines amours, in 3. Les amours de Mésange, no. 8, Paris, Bibliothèque Charpentier, Éd. Eugène Fasquelle, first published 1892
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2019-02-23
Line count: 13
Word count: 78