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Je vais faire un voyage, et je n'emporte pas mes pinceaux. Je vais chercher la réponse qui n'est pas dans le chant du rossignol, dans le sourire de la femme, dans le parfum de la rose. Je vous laisse mes poésies. Relisez-les quand le silence de l'univers vous obsèdera, quand vous frissonnerez d'inquiétude. J'ai célébré le parfum de la rose, le sourire de la femme, le chant du rossignol, et je n'ai jamais tracé le caractère qui signifie la tristesse. Un soir que vous regarderez la lune posée sur un amandier fleurie donnez une pensée au poète dont la tristesse fut si grande qu'il s'en alla faire un voyage au pays d'où l'on ne revient pas.
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade, Paris: H. Piazza, 1922, pages 151-152.
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le dernier voyage", appears in La flûte de jade [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Karel Goeyvaerts (1923 - 1993), "Le dernier voyage", 1949 [ voice and piano ], from La flûte de Jade, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Last Voyage", copyright © 2026, (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: 2025-02-19
Line count: 12
Word count: 116
I am going on a voyage, and I am not taking my brushes. I am going in search of the answer that is not in the song of a nightingale, the smile of a woman, the scent of a rose. I leave you my verses. Reread them when the silence of the universe haunts you, when you tremble with anxiety. I've sung the praises of the scent of a rose, the smile of a woman, the song of a nightingale, and I have never drawn the character that stands for sadness. Some night, when you look at the moon resting on a flowering almond, spare a thought for the poet whose sadness was so great that he went on a voyage to the country from which there is no return.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 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 Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le dernier voyage", appears in La flûte de jade
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-30
Line count: 12
Word count: 130