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De roses vermeilles Nos champs sont fleuris, Et le bras des treilles Tend à nos corbeilles Ses raisins mûris. Puisque chaque année Jetant aux hivers Sa robe fanée, Renaît couronnée De feuillages verts ; Puisque toute chose S'offre à notre main Pour qu'elle en dispose, Effeuillons la rose, Foulons le raisin. Car le temps nous presse D'un constant effort ! Hier la jeunesse, Ce soir la vieillesse, Et demain la mort. Étrange mystère ! Chaque homme à son tour Passe solitaire Un jour sur la terre ; Mais pendant ce jour... De roses vermeilles Nos champs sont fleuris, Et le bras des treilles Tend à nos corbeilles Ses raisins mûris.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Alexandre Dumas, Caligula, Brussels: Th. Lejeune, 1838, Page 123.
Text Authorship:
- by Gérard Labrunie (1808 - 1855), as Gérard de Nerval, no title [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 Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Mélodrame et chœur", op. 52 no. 4, published [1888], first performed 1888 [ women's chorus and orchestra ], from the incidental music to Caligula, no. 4, Paris, J. Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
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: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2014-11-16
Line count: 30
Word count: 106
With bright red roses Our fields are in bloom And the arm of the arbor Holds out for our baskets Its ripened grapes. Since each year, Throwing to winter Its faded robe, Is reborn crowned With green foliage; Since all things Are placed in our hands To use as we please, Let us pluck the rose, Let us tread the grape, For time presses us With a constant pressure! Yesterday youth, Tonight old age, And tomorrow death. Strange mystery! Each man in his turn Spends alone One day upon the earth; But for this day... With bright red roses Our fields are in bloom, And the arm of the arbor Holds out for our baskets Its ripened grapes.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Mélodrame et chœur" = "Melodrama and Chorus"
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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Gérard Labrunie (1808 - 1855), as Gérard de Nerval, no title
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-24
Line count: 30
Word count: 118