Two prose pieces by Pierre Loti

Translations © by Jean-Pierre Granger

Song Cycle by Isaac Albéniz (1860 - 1909)

View original-language texts alone: Deux morceaux de prose de Pierre Loti

1. Tristesse
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Jean, lui, tous les jours flânait et songeait,
avec une vague tristesse,
visible pour la première fois
dans ses yeux perdus par instants
et dans son allure un peu ralentie.

Dans le jardin à l'abandon,
envahi par la poussée des chrysanthèmes
et des asters d'automne,
il demeurait enfermé, des heures,
entre les murs peuplés de lézards,
tandis que les oranges jaunissaient au soleil d'octobre.

Avec l'été allait finir son enfance ;
avec la splendeur de ce soleil,
déjà déclinant et mélancolique,
allait s'enfuir son passé d'insouciance heureuse ;
et il sentait cela douloureusement,
avec une impression inconnue de regret et d'effroi.

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by Louis Marie Julien Viaud (1850 - 1923), as Pierre Loti
1. Sadness
Language: English 
Everyday, John wandered and was dreaming,
With a faint sadness,
That we could see for the first time
In his sometimes lost eyes
And his somewhat slack demeanour.

In the garden left to itself,
Invaded by the bloom of chrysanthemum 
And of the autumn aster,
He stayed for hours, confined
between the walls populated with lizards,
While the oranges were turning yellow under the October sun.

With the end of Summer his childhood would end.
With the glittering sun,
Already declining and melancholy,
Would flee his past of carefree hapiness;
And he felt that painfully,
With an unknown impression of regret and fear.

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The translator has released this translation into the public domain.


This text was added to the website: 2010-10-21
Line count: 17
Word count: 103

Translation © by Jean-Pierre Granger
2. Crépuscule
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
C'était bien un crépuscule de juin ;
il y avait des parfums de fleurs dans ce cimetière,
des parfums si suaves, si pénétrants, qu'ils me grisaient ;
il y avait des guirlandes de roses partout sur les tombeaux,
et de hautes herbes fleuries,
au-dessus desquelles les phalènes et les moucherons
dansaient leurs rondes légères.
Tout cela m'enivrait de vie et d'amour,
moi qui était mort...

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by Louis Marie Julien Viaud (1850 - 1923), as Pierre Loti
2. Twilight
Language: English 
This was effectively in June, at dusk;
There were scents of flowers in this graveyard,
Such exquisite fragrance, so penetrating, I was intoxicated;
There were garlands of roses all over the tombs,
And high grass in flower
over which moths and midges
Made their light round dance.
All that exhilarated me with life and love,
I, who was dead...

Text Authorship:

Based on:

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The translator has released this translation into the public domain.


This text was added to the website: 2010-10-21
Line count: 9
Word count: 59

Translation © by Jean-Pierre Granger