May | It has been one month, sweet exiled one

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by François Coppée (1842 - 1908)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Mai

(Sung text for setting by R. Hahn)

See original

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Depuis un mois, chère exilée,
Loin de mes yeux tu t'en allas,
Et j'ai vu fleurir des lilas
Avec ma peine inconsolée.

Seul, je fuis ce ciel clair et beau
Dont l'ardent effluve me trouble,
Car l'horreur de l'exil se double
De la splendeur du renouveau.

 ... 

En vain le soleil a souri,
Au printemps je ferme ma porte,
Et veux seulement qu'on m'apporte
Un rameau de lilas fleuri;

Car l'amour dont mon âme est pleine
Y trouve parmi ses douleurs
Ton regard dans ces chères fleurs
Et dans leur parfum ton haleine.

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,4-5 of the original text.

Composition:

Reynaldo Hahn

Mélodies - 1er volume

Text Authorship:

by François Coppée (1842 - 1908), "Mai", appears in Les Récits et les Élégies, in Élégies, in 3. Les mois, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1878

See other settings of this text.

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

ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "May", copyright ©

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 115

May

(Sung text translation for setting by R. Hahn)

See original

Language: English after the French (Français)

It has been one month, sweet exiled one,
Since you left my sight,
And I have seen the lilacs bloom
With inconsolable grief.

Alone, I shun fresh air,
Whose ardent fragrance disquiets me,
For the horror of an exile doubles
At seeing the luster of nature's renewal.

 ... 

In vain does the sun smile,
For I close my door against the spring,
And wish only that someone would bring me
A branch of blossoming lilac;

For Love, of which my heart is full,
in the middle of its grief, finds
Your gaze among these precious flowers,
And in their scent, your breath!

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,4-5 of the original text.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by François Coppée (1842 - 1908), "Mai", appears in Les Récits et les Élégies, in Élégies, in 3. Les mois, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1878
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This text was added to the website: 2014-09-29
Line count: 20
Word count: 131