Prayer in Spring | Whatever you touch blooms

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by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907)

Translation © by Amy Pfrimmer

Prière au printemps

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Toi qui fleuris ce que tu touches,
Qui, dans les bois, aux vieilles souches
Rends la vigueur,
Le sourire à toutes les bouches,
La vie au cœur ;

Qui changes la boue en prairies,
Sèmes d’or et de pierreries
Tous les haillons,
Et jusqu’au seuil des boucheries
Mets des rayons !

Ô printemps, alors que tout aime,
Que s’embellit la tombe même,
Verte au dehors,
Fais naître un renouveau suprême
Au cœur des morts !

Qu’ils ne soient pas les seuls au monde
Pour qui tu restes inféconde,
Saison d’amour !
Mais fais germer dans leur poussière
L’espoir divin de la lumière
Et du retour !

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Widor

C. Widor sets stanzas 1, 3-4

Text Authorship:

by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Prière au printemps", written 1866-1872, appears in Les Solitudes, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869 [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 Franz Godebski (b. 1866), "Prière au Printemps", published [1910] [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois Mélodies, no. 2, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
by Charles Marie Jean Albert Widor (1844 - 1937), "Prière au printemps", stanzas 1,3-4 [ high voice and piano ], from Quarante mélodies, no. 36, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , "Prayer in Spring", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2018-09-24
Line count: 21
Word count: 101

Prayer in Spring

Language: English after the French (Français)

Whatever you touch blooms, 
you restore vigor to the oldest trees 
in the woods,
You are the smile on everyone’s lips, 
the life in their hearts;

[...
...
...
...
...]

O spring, when everything loves, 
when the same sides 
of that gray tomb 
are beautifully green,
Renew lifeless hearts! 

Do not remain 
unfruitful, 
season of love
But let the divine light 
of hope return to burst forth 
from the ashes.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Amy Pfrimmer, (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 René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Prière au printemps", written 1866-1872, appears in Les Solitudes, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-06-06
Line count: 21
Word count: 66