Je pars ! Adieu, ma chère âme,
Garde bien mon souvenir !
-- Quoi ! sitôt partir, ma Dame !
Ne devez-vous revenir ?

-- Si -- je reviendrai peut-être ;
Si -- bien sûr je reviendrai ...
Va m'attendre à la fenêtre ;
De plus loin te reverrai.

J'attendis à la fenêtre
Le retour tant espéré,
Mais, ni bien sûr, ni peut-être,
Ni jamais la reverrai!

Bien fol qui croit quand sa Dame
Lui jure de revenir.
Je meurs ! -- Adieu, ma chère âme !
J'ai gardé ton souvenir.

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Armand Silvestre, Rimes neuves et vieilles, Paris, E. Dentu, 1866, pages 76-77.

Text Authorship:

• by Armand Silvestre (1837 - 1901), "Complainte", appears in Rimes neuves et vieilles, in 2. Mignonne, no. 12 [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):

[ None yet in the database ]

This text (or a part of it) is used in a work

• by Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912), "Adieu (Complainte)", op. 14 no. 8 [ voice and piano ], from Poème d'avril, no. 8, note: the first stanza is spoken, also set in German (Deutsch)
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Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Jules Massenet.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English (Peter Low) , "Farewell (Lament)", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 77