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Aux temps jadis, aux temps rêveurs, aux temps des Fées, Il aurait fallu vivre aux bois, chez les muguets, Sous des branches, parmi les rumeurs étouffées. Sans rien savoir, sans croire à rien, libres et gais, Nourris de [clairs de lune et buvant les rosées]1, Il aurait fallu vivre aux bois, chez les muguets,2 Nous aurions su dormir sous deux feuilles croisées, Chanter avec la source et rire avec le vent, Nourris de [clairs de lune et buvant les rosées]1 -- Le monde est faux, la chair vile, l'art décevant... Oh ! se bercer au fond des palais d'émeraude, Chanter avec la source et rire avec le vent ! Suivre la libellule et la brise en maraude !...3 Peut-être Mab un jour nous eût changés en fleurs ; [Oh ! se bercer au fond des palais d'émeraude !]4 C'est si bon d'oublier sa joie et ses douleurs ! Viens nous rouler dans les mousses ébouriffées... Peut-être Mab un jour nous eût changés en fleurs, Aux temps jadis, aux temps rêveurs, aux temps des Fées.
C. Koechlin sets stanzas 1-3, 5, 7
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Edmond Haraucourt: L'Ame Nue, Paris, G. Charpentier et Cie, éditeurs, 1885, pages 258-259.
1 Koechlin: "clair de lune et buvant la rosée"2 Koechlin adds "Aux temps des Fées."
3 Koechlin adds "Chanter avec la source et rire avec le vent..."
4 Koechlin: "Aux temps jadis, aux temps rêveurs, aux temps des Fées,/ Il aurait fallu vivre aux bois, chez les muguets,"
Text Authorship:
- by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941), "Temps des Fées", appears in L'Âme nue, in 2. La Vie intérieure, in 3. Le Soir, no. 23 [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 Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950), "Aux temps des fées", op. 7 (Quatre Poèmes d'E Haraucourt) no. 4 (1895), orchestrated 1896, stanzas 1-3,5,7 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright © 2024
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Zur Zeit der Feen", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 19
Word count: 168
In times long ago, in the time of dreams, in the fairy days, we should have lived in the woods with the lilies of the valley, under the branches, among hushed sounds, Knowing nothing, believing nothing, free and joyous, Nourished by moonlight and drinking dew; we should have lived in the woods with the lilies of the valley,1 We could have slept under two crossed leaves, sung along with the water-spring and laughed with the wind, nourished by moonlight and drinking dew... -- The world is false, flesh is vile, art is disappointing... Oh! To delude oneself in the depths of emerald palaces, To sing with the water-spring and laugh with the wind! Following the dragonfly and the wandering breeze,2 Perhaps one day Mab would have transformed us into flowers ; Oh! To delude oneself in the depths of emerald palaces! It is so good to forget one's joys and one's sorrows! Come, let us roll in the ruffled moss... Perhaps one day Mab would have transformed us into flowers, In times long ago, in the time of dreams, in the fairy days.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translations of titles
"Temps des Fées" = "Fairy Days"
"Aux temps des fées" = "In the Fairy Days"
1 Koechlin adds "in the fairy days."
2 Koechlin adds "sing with the spring of water and laugh with the wind..."
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2024 by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941), "Temps des Fées", appears in L'Âme nue, in 2. La Vie intérieure, in 3. Le Soir, no. 23
This text was added to the website: 2024-06-29
Line count: 19
Word count: 181