All is but fleeting images

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Jean Reboul (1796 - 1864)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Tout n'est qu'images fugitives

(Sung text for setting by R. Wagner)

See original

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Tout n'est qu'images fugitives ;
Coupe d'amertume ou de miel,
Chansons joyeuses ou plaintives,
Abusent des lèvres fictives :
Il n'est rien de vrai que le ciel.

Tout soleil naît, s'élève et tombe :
Tout trône est artificiel ;
La plus haute gloire succombe ;
Tout s'épanouit pour la tombe,
Et rien n'est brillant que le ciel.

Navigateur d'un jour d'orage,
Jouet des vagues, le mortel,
Repoussé de chaque rivage,
Ne voit qu'écueils sur son passage,
Et rien n'est calme que le ciel.

Composition:

Richard Wagner

Text Authorship:

by Jean Reboul (1796 - 1864), "Soupir"

See other settings of this text.

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 79

All is but fleeting images

(Sung text translation for setting by R. Wagner)

See original

Language: English after the French (Français)

All is but fleeting images;
Goblet of bitterness or of honey,
Songs joyous or mournful,
Deceive imagined lips:
There is nothing true but heaven.

Each sun is born, rises and sets:
Each throne is man-made;
The highest glory gives way;
Everything blossoms for the grave,
And nothing shines but heaven.

Seafarer of a stormy day,
Plaything of the waves, the mortal,
Driven away from every shore,
Sees only the reefs along his way,
And nothing is peaceful but heaven.

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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Jean Reboul (1796 - 1864), "Soupir"
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2025-09-22
Line count: 15
Word count: 80