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Puisque j'ai mis ma lèvre à ta coupe encore pleine;
Puisque j'ai sur ton front posé mon front pâli;
Puisque j'ai respiré parfois la douce haleine
De ton âme, parfum dans l'ombre enseveli;
Puisqu'il me fut donné de t'entendre me dire
Les mots où se répand le coeur mystérieux;
Puisque j'ai vu pleurer, puisque j'ai vu sourire
Ta bouche sur ma bouche et tes yeux sur mes yeux;
...
Je puis maintenant dire aux rapides années:
- Passez! passez toujours! je n'ai plus à vieillir!
Allez-vous-en avec vos fleurs toutes fanées;
J'ai dans l'âme une fleur que nul ne peut cueillir!
Votre aile en le heurtant ne fera rien répandre
Du vase où je m'abreuve et que j'ai bien rempli.
Mon âme a plus de feu que vous n'avez de cendre!
Mon coeur a plus d'amour que vous n'avez d'oubli!
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,4-5 of the original text.
Composition:
- Set to music by Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947), "Puisque j'ai mis ma lèvre", published 1917, stanzas 1-2,4-5 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies - 2ème volume, no. 19, Paris, Éd. Heugel
Text Authorship:
- by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, written 1835, appears in Les Chants du Crépuscule, no. 25, Paris, Éd. L. Hachette, first published 1857
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) (Elena Kalinina) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 172
Since I put my lips to your still full cup;
Since I have placed my pale forehead in your hands;
Since I sometimes breathed the sweet breath of your soul,
perfume buried in the shadow;
Since it was given to me to hear you say to me
the words in which the mysterious heart spreads;
Since I have seen tears, since I saw your mouth smile
on my mouth and your eyes on my eyes;
...
I can now say to the swift years:
"Pass away! Always! I no longer have to grow old!
Go away with your faded flowers;
I have in my soul a flower that no one can pick!”
If your wing strikes it - it will not spill anything
from the vase where I drink and have well-filled.
My soul has more fire than you have ashes!
My heart has more love than you have oblivion!
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,4-5 of the original text.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 by Amy Pfrimmer, (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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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, written 1835, appears in Les Chants du Crépuscule, no. 25, Paris, Éd. L. Hachette, first published 1857
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This text was added to the website: 2019-07-04
Line count: 20
Word count: 181