Where to live? In what shadow

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by Jean Richepin (1849 - 1926)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Angoisse

(Sung text for setting by L. Vierne)

See original

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG ENG ITA

Où vivre ? Dans quelle ombre
Étouffer mon ennui ?
Ma tristesse est plus sombre
  Que la nuit.

Où mourir ? Dans quelle onde
Noyer mon deuil amer ?
Ma peine est plus profonde
  Que la mer.

Où fuir ? De quelle honte
Égorger mon remords ?
Ma douleur est plus forte
  Que la mort.

Composition:

Louis Vierne

Le poème de l'amour

Text Authorship:

by Jean Richepin (1849 - 1926), no title, written 1877, appears in Les Caresses, in 4. Nivôse, no. 18, Paris, Éd. M. Dreyfous, first published 1882

See other settings of this text.

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

ENG English (Corinne Orde) , "Anguish", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Francesco Campanella) , "Angoscia", copyright © 2013, (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: 12
Word count: 52

Anguish

(Sung text translation for setting by L. Vierne)

See original

Language: English after the French (Français)

Where to live? In what shadow
To smother my ennui?
My sadness is darker 
  Than night.

Where to die? In what wave
To drown my bitter grief?
My pain is deeper 
  Than the sea.

Where to flee? In what shame
To slaughter my remorse?
My sorrow is stronger 
  Than death.

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 Richepin (1849 - 1926), no title, written 1877, appears in Les Caresses, in 4. Nivôse, no. 18, Paris, Éd. M. Dreyfous, first published 1882
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This text was added to the website: 2025-10-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 52