Farewell | I've suffered watching your eyes watching me

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by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Adieux

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

J'ai souffert regardant tes yeux me regarder,
Interrogeant tes yeux pour y chercher ton âme
Et trouver ce qu'alors je pouvais demander,
Quelque pitié du moins à défaut d'une flamme,

Un regret, un semblant d'amour et de douleur,
— Oh ! vagues comme il sied à toute chose humaine ;
Ton regard était doux comme un regard de fleur ;
En plus attendre était une espérance vaine.

Et j'ai souffert devant cette tranquillité
Coutumière à tes yeux si beaux, mais sans caresse,
De n'avoir adoré que leur seule beauté,
Effrayé, mais trop tard, de leur peu de tendresse.

Confirmed with Jean Lahor, L'Illusion (Fifth Edition), Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1925, page 130.

Text Authorship:

by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Adieux", written 1875, appears in L'Illusion, in 1. Chants de l'Amour et de la Mort, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1875 [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 Paul Paray (1886 - 1979), "Adieux", 1921, published 1923 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quatre poèmes de J. Lahor, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Jobert [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Farewell", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-05-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 95

Farewell

Language: English after the French (Français)

I've suffered watching your eyes watching me,
Questioning your eyes to find your soul in them
And to discover what I once might have sought,
Some pity, at least, if not a flame.

A regret, some semblance of love and pain,
— Oh! vague, as befits all things human;
Your gaze was gentle like the gaze of a flower;
To expect more of it was a vain hope.

And I've suffered before that habitual
Tranquility of your eyes, so beautiful but without affection,
For having adored their beauty alone,
Frightened, but too late, by their lack of tenderness.

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 Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Adieux", written 1875, appears in L'Illusion, in 1. Chants de l'Amour et de la Mort, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1875
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-05-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 98