All is but fleeting images

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by Jean Reboul (1796 - 1864)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Tout n'est qu'images fugitives

(Sung text for setting by E. Tinel)

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.

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2 of the original text.

Composition:

Edgar Pierre Joseph Tinel

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 E. Tinel)

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.

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2 of the original text.

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