by
Charles Manso (1835 - 1903)
Discrétion
Language: French (Français)
J'ai dit ton nom à l'hirondelle errante ;
J'ai dit ton nom à la source où je bois ;
J'ai dit ton nom à la rose odorante ;
J'ai dit ton nom à la feuille du bois.
J'ai dit ton nom à la brise embaumée ;
J'ai dit ton nom au nuage argenté,
Et tous les deux, ma douce bien-aimée,
Avec amour au loin l'ont apporté.
Et maintenant la rose sur sa tige
Le dit tout bas au léger papillon ;
Dans l'air brumeux, la feuille qui voltige
En tournoyant, va le dire au sillon.
En jaillissant de la source limpide
Le flot le dit au murmurant roseau ;
Dans ses ébats l'hirondelle rapide
Discrètement le dit à chaque oiseau.
En soupirant, lorsque la brise passe,
Elle le dit aux ormeaux, aux ajoncs,
Et le nuage emporté dans l'espace
Le dit aux tours des antiques donjons.
L'homme est venu pour le savoir, mon ange,
Il est moqueur, et j'ai répondu, non !
Il est méchant, et j'ai peur de sa fange ;
À l'homme seul je n'ai point dit ton nom.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• J. Koszul
View text with all available footnotes
Confirmed with Charles Manso, Les Chants du soir: poésies, Lille, L. Danel, 1869, Pages 56-57.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Discretion", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2025-11-17
Line count: 24
Word count: 177
Discretion
Language: English  after the French (Français)
I spoke your name to the wandering swallow;
I spoke your name to the spring where I drink;
I spoke your name to the fragrant rose;
I spoke your name to the leaf of the wood.
I spoke your name to the perfumed breeze;
I spoke your name to the silvery cloud;
And both of them, my sweet beloved,
Lovingly carried it far and wide.
And now the rose on its stem
Whispers it to the nimble butterfly;
In the misty air, the leaf that flutters
And whirls goes to speak it to the furrow.
Gushing from the crystalline spring
The torrent speaks it to the murmuring reed;
In its frolics the speedy swallow
Speaks it discreetly to every bird.
With a sigh, the breeze in its passing
Speaks it to the elms, to the gorse,
And the cloud carried away into space
Speaks it to the towers of antique dungeons.
Man came in order to learn it, my angel,
He is a mocker, and I answered, No!
He is a villain, and I fear his filth;
To man alone I did not speak your name.
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Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 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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This text was added to the website: 2025-12-11
Line count: 24
Word count: 190