I picked it at the edge of hidden, lazy waters

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by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Je l'ai cueillie au bord d'une eau...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Je l'ai cueillie au bord d'une eau cachée et lente,
Elle est bleue et demain on la verra jaunir.
La fleur du souvenir n'est pas bien ressemblante,
Car la fleur passe et meurt, et non le souvenir.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Victor Hugo, Œuvres complètes: Les Années funestes, Dernière Gerbe, Paris: Ollendorf, 1941, Page 507.

Text Authorship:

by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, written 1861 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Cyril Plante (b. 1975), "Je l'ai cueillie", op. 136 no. 3, published 2009 [ medium voice and piano ], from Cycle Hugolien, no. 3, Édition du compositeur [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

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-09-09
Line count: 4
Word count: 37

I picked it at the edge of hidden, lazy...

Language: English after the French (Français)

I picked it at the edge of hidden, lazy waters,
It is blue and tomorrow it will begin to yellow.
The flower of memory is not quite like this,
For the flower fades and dies, and the memory does not.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Je l'ai cueillie" = "I Picked It"

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

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, written 1861
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-09-15
Line count: 4
Word count: 40