A présent le plus charmant des arbres, le cerisier

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by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)

Translation © by Patricia Dillard Eguchi

Loveliest of trees

(Sung text for setting by D. Steele)

See original

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 woodland I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

Composition:

Douglas Steele

Text Authorship:

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 2, first published 1896

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

FRE French (Français) (Patricia Dillard Eguchi) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Max Mader) , "היפה בעצים", copyright © 2014, (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: 12
Word count: 76

Le plus charmant des arbres

(Sung text translation for setting by D. Steele)

See original

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.

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.
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Based on:

a text in English by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 2, first published 1896
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This text was added to the website: 2018-08-21
Line count: 12
Word count: 76