From May Day to May Day | As if we were the leaves of a single tree

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by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard

Translation © by Grant Hicks

De premier mai en premier mai

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Comme si nous étions les feuilles d'un même arbre
Nous sommes rassemblés par le vent étouffant
Misère c'est la nuit et guerre le déluge 
Du miroir qu'on nous tend ne reste que le plomb 

Et ce n'est pas d'hier mais de toujours qu'on ose
Nous promettre au néant nous qui rajeunissons 
A chaque bon baiser comme à chaque printemps 
Nous qui puisons dans l'avenir notre lumière 

D'un ciel mal étalé nos maîtres sont marqués
Nous notre force est nue elle est une et première
Toujours et pour demain sur terre nous les hommes 
Nous ne connaîtrons plus que le poids du bonheur 

Le poids léger et doux des bourgeons et des fruits.

Confirmed with Paul Éluard, Œuvres complètes, Vol. 2, Paris: Gallimard, 1968, Page 232.

Text Authorship:

by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "De premier mai en premier mai", appears in Poèmes politiques, first published 1948 [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 Elsa Barraine (1910 - 1999), "De premier mai en premier mai", 1979 [ mixed chorus ], Givors : l'Art musical populaire [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "From May Day to May Day", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-11-23
Line count: 13
Word count: 112

From May Day to May Day

Language: English after the French (Français)

As if we were the leaves of a single tree 
We are gathered by the stifling wind
Misery is the night and war the flood 
Of the mirror offered to us only the lead remains 

And it is not from yesterday but from always that they dare
To destine us to nothingness us who are rejuvenated
At every good kiss as at every Spring 
Us who draw our light from the future

Our masters are marked by a poorly spread sky
Us our strength is naked it is one and primary 
Always and for tomorrow on the earth we men
We will know no more than the burden of happiness 

The light and gentle burden of buds and fruits.

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 Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "De premier mai en premier mai", appears in Poèmes politiques, first published 1948
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-12-01
Line count: 13
Word count: 119