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Je ne songeais pas à Rose ;
Rose au bois vint avec moi ;
Nous parlions de quelque chose,
Mais je ne sais plus de quoi.
J'étais froid comme les marbres ;
Je marchais à pas distraits ;
J'ai parlais des fleurs, des arbres ;
Son œil semblait dire : «Après ?»
La rosée offrait ses perles,
Le taillis ses parasols ;
J'allais ; j'écoutais les merles,
Et Rose les rossignols.
Moi, seize ans, et l'air morose,
Elle, vingt ; ses yeux brillaient,
Les rossignols chantaient Rose
Et les merles me sifflaient,
...
Je ne savais que lui dire ;
Je la suivais dans les bois,
La voyant parfois sourire
Et soupirer quelquefois.
Je ne vis qu'elle était belle
Qu'en sortant des grands bois sourds.
« Soit, n'y pensons plus !» dit-elle.
Depuis j'y pense toujours.
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4,8-9 of the original text.
Composition:
- Set to music by Napoléon-Henri Reber (1807 - 1880), "Rose", stanzas 1-4,8-9 [ voice and piano ]
Score: IMSLP [external link]
Text Authorship:
- by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", written 1831, appears in Les Contemplations, in 1. Livre premier -- Aurore, no. 19
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , copyright © 2023, (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: 36
Word count: 192
I was not thinking of Rose;
Rose came with me into the woods;
We were talking about something,
but I do not know what.
I was cold as marble; I walked
with distracted steps;
I spoke of flowers, of trees;
Her eye seemed to say, “After?”
The dew offered its pearls,
the copse its parasols.
I was going; I listened to the blackbirds,
and Rose to the nightingales.
I, sixteen years old, and with a morose manner,
she, twenty; her eyes shone,
The nightingales sang to Rose,
and the blackbirds whistled at me,
...
I did not know what to say to her;
I followed her in the woods,
She smiled from time to time
and sometimes sighed.
I only saw that she was beautiful only
when leaving the great silent forest.
"So, let us not think about it anymore!" she said.
Since then, I always think about it.
About the headline (FAQ)
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4,8-9 of the original text.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 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.
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", written 1831, appears in Les Contemplations, in 1. Livre premier -- Aurore, no. 19
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This text was added to the website: 2023-06-05
Line count: 36
Word count: 213
