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Bonne journée j'ai revu qui je n'oublie pas Qui je n'oublierai jamais Et des femmes fugaces dont les yeux Me faisaient une haie d'honneur Elles s'enveloppèrent dans leurs sourires Bonne journée j'ai vu mes amis sans soucis Les hommes ne pesaient pas lourd Un qui passait Son ombre changée en souris Fuyait dans le ruisseau J'ai vu le ciel très grand Le beau regard des gens privés de tout Plage distante où personne n'aborde Bonne journée qui commença mélancolique Noire sous les arbres verts Mais qui soudain trempée d'aurore M'entra dans le coeur par surprise.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Paul Éluard, Œuvres complètes, Vol. 1, Paris: Gallimard, 1968, Pages 498-499.
Text Authorship:
- by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, no title, appears in À Pablo Picasso, no. 1, first published 1936 [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 Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Bonne journée", FP 86 no. 1 (1937), published 1937 [ high voice and piano ], from Tel jour Telle nuit, no. 1, Éd. Durand [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (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: 17
Word count: 95
Good day I've seen again the one I don't forget The one I will never forget And the elusive women whose eyes Formed for me an honor guard They wrapped themselves in their smiles Good day I've seen my carefree friends The men did not weigh very much One who was passing His shadow become a mouse Fled into the gutter I've seen the vast sky The beautiful gaze of people deprived of everything Distant shore where no one lands Good day that was melancholy at first Black beneath the green trees But which suddenly drenched with dawn Entered into my heart by surprise.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Bonne journée" = "Good Day"
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, no title, appears in À Pablo Picasso, no. 1, first published 1936
This text was added to the website: 2025-12-20
Line count: 17
Word count: 104