by
Charles Guérin (1873 - 1907)
L'heure triste du fond de sa vie est...
Language: French (Français)
L'heure triste du fond de sa vie est venue
Dans le rire dupeur des roses du départ;
L'enfant silencieux a quitté vers le tard
La chambre close où les musiques se sont tues.
La grille douloureuse, au bas de l'avenue,
S'est lentement ouverte et vire dans un cri;
Longtemps s'etouffe, bruit mourant d'eau qui tarit,
Le murmure lointain des voix qu'il a connues.
Il sent que l'ombre est sur son âme et qu'elle a mal
Et qu'une bise aigue en gerce le cristal;
Et l'enfant, que la main charitable abandonne,
Dans le parc bruissant où la pluie a cessé
Exile de ses yeux le rêve du passé,
Et reste seul à sangloter parmi l'automne.
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Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , title 1: "His sad life has hit bottom", 2004, copyright © 2004 by Faith J. Cormier, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 114
His sad life has hit bottom
Language: English after the French (Français)
His sad life has hit bottom,
in the trickster laugh of the roses of parting.
Late, the silent child has left
the closed room where the music has fallen silent.
The painful bars at the bottom of the avenue
have slowly creaked open.
Long stifled, dying sound of water drying up,
the distant murmur of voices he has known.
He feels the shadow touch his soul. It is in pain,
and a sharp breeze chafes the crystal.
The child, abandoned by the hand of charity,
in the rustling park where the rain has stopped,
banishes the dream of the past
and sobs alone, surrounded by autumn.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2004 by Faith J. Cormier; translation by Faith J. Cormier, (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:
This text was added to the website: 2004-01-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 106
