A présent le plus charmant des arbres, le cerisier

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)

Translation © by Patricia Dillard Eguchi

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Language: English

Our translations: FRE HEB

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• R. Manton • D. Steele

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Text Authorship:

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 2, first published 1896 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Go to the general view

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 76

A présent le plus charmant des arbres,...

NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view

Language: French (Français) after the English

A présent le plus charmant des arbres, le cerisier,
Aux branches couvertes de fleurs,
Il est sur le chemin du bois,
Tout en blanc pour Pâques.

De mes soixante dix ans alloués,
Mes vingt ans ne viendront pas deux fois,
Otons vingt ans de soixante-dix,
Il ne reste que cinquante ans à vivre.

Contempler ce qui fleurit,
Prend peu de temps sur cinquante ans,
Et donc j’irai aux bois,
Voir le cerisier couvert de neige.

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Translations of title(s):
"The cherry hung with snow" = "Le cerisier couvert de neige"
"Loveliest of trees" = "Le plus charmant des arbres"
"Youth" = "La jeunesse"
"The cherry tree" = "Le cerisier"
"Loveliest of trees, the cherry now" = "A présent le plus charmant des arbres, le cerisier"

¹ Soixante dix ans : en anglais « threescore and ten » ; l’origine de cette expression est dans la Bible, Psaume 90. L’humain n’est alloué que 70 ans à vivre.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2018 by Patricia Dillard Eguchi, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in English by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 2, first published 1896
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general view

This text was added to the website: 2018-08-21
Line count: 12
Word count: 76