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Parfois, je suis triste. Et soudain, je pense à elle. Alors, je suis joyeux. Mais je redeviens triste de ce que je ne sais pas combien elle m'aime. Elle est la jeune fille à l'âme toute claire, et qui[, dedans son cœur,]1 garde avec jalousie l'unique passion que l'on donne à un seul. Elle est partie avant que s'ouvrent les tilleuls, et, comme ils ont fleuri depuis qu'elle est partie, Je me suis étonné de voir, ô mes amis, des branches de tilleuls qui n'avaient pas de fleurs.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Francis Jammes, Clairières dans le Ciel, Paris: Société du Mercure de France, 1906, page 27.
1 omitted by Milhaud.Text Authorship:
- by Francis Jammes (1868 - 1938), no title, appears in Clairières dans le ciel, in Tristesses, no. 5, first published 1906 [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 Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Parfois, je suis triste", 1999 [ high voice, flute, and piano ], from Tristesses, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Lili Boulanger (1893 - 1918), "Parfois, je suis triste", 1914, published 1919 [ high voice and piano or orchestra ], from Clairières dans le ciel, no. 3, Ricordi [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974), "Parfois, je suis triste", op. 355 no. 6 (1956), published 1957 [ baritone and piano ], from Tristesses, no. 6, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "Sometimes I'm sad", copyright © 2003, (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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 89
Sometimes I'm sad, and then suddenly I think of her and I'm happy. Then I'm sad again because I don't know how much she loves me. She is a bright-souled girl, and in her heart she jealously protects the one passion she will bestow on only one. She left before the lindens opened. They have flowered since then and I was amazed, my friends, to see linden branches with no flowers on them.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2003 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:
- a text in French (Français) by Francis Jammes (1868 - 1938), no title, appears in Clairières dans le ciel, in Tristesses, no. 5, first published 1906
This text was added to the website: 2004-01-27
Line count: 10
Word count: 73