by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867)
Translation © by Peter Low

Chant d'automne
 (Sung text for setting by G. Fauré)
 See original
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG
I
Bientôt nous plongerons dans les froides ténèbres ;
Adieu, vive clarté de nos étés trop courts !
J'entends déjà tomber avec des chocs funèbres
Le bois retentissant sur le pavé des cours.

 ... 

J'écoute en frémissant chaque bûche qui tombe ;
L'échafaud qu'on bâtit n'a pas d'écho plus sourd.
Mon esprit est pareil à la tour qui succombe
Sous les coups du bélier infatigable et lourd.

Il me semble, bercé par ce choc monotone,
Qu'on cloue en grande hâte un cercueil quelque part.
Pour qui ? - C'était hier l'été ; voici l'automne !
Ce bruit mystérieux sonne comme un départ.

II
J'aime de vos longs yeux la lumière verdâtre,
Douce beauté, mais tout aujourd'hui m'est amer,
Et rien, ni votre amour, ni le boudoir, ni l'âtre,
Ne me vaut le soleil rayonnant sur la mer.

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,3-5 of the original text.

Composition:

    Set to music by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Chant d'automne", op. 5 no. 1 (1871?), published 1879, stanzas 1,3-5 [ voice and piano ]

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Haasz) , "Zpěv podzimní", Prague, J. Otto, first published 1919
  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Goll) , "Podzimní"
  • ENG English (Peter Low) , "Song of autumn", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Cyril Meir Scott) , "Autumn Song", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 30
Word count: 224

Language: English  after the French (Français) 
1
Soon we shall plunge into the cold darkness
Farewell, sharp brightness of our too short summers!
I already hear the firewood falling
With a mournful crash onto the paved courtyards.

 ... 

I tremble as I hear each log falling;
a scaffold being built does not echo more hollowly.
My mind is like a tower that tumbles
When struck by a tireless heavy battering-ram.

It seems to me, rocked by this monotonous thudding,
As if somewhere a coffin is being hastily hammered.
For whom? Yesterday it was summer; now it's autumn!
This mysterious noise sounds like a departure!

2
I love the greenish light of your long eyes,
O gentle beauty. But today I find everything bitter!
Nothing, neither your love, nor the boudoir nor the hearth
Means as much to me as the sun beaming on the sea!

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,3-5 of the original text.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Peter Low, (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:

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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 30
Word count: 138