Forest | Oh Forest, you who saw the passing of many lovers

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by Rémy de Gourmont (1858 - 1915)

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Ô Forêt, toi qui vis passer bien des...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Ô Forêt, toi qui vis passer bien des amants
Le long de tes sentiers, sous tes profonds feuillages,
Confidente des jeux, des cris, et des serments,
Témoin à qui les âmes avouaient leurs orages.

Ô Forêt, souviens-toi de ceux qui sont venus
Un jour d'été fouler tes mousses et tes herbes,
Car ils ont trouvé là des baisers ingénus
Couleur de feuilles, couleur d'écores, couleur de rêves.

Ô Forêt, tu fus bonne, en laissant le désir
Fleurir, ardente fleur, au sein de ta verdure.
L'ombre devint plus fraîche: un frisson de plaisir
Enchanta les deux coeurs et toute la nature.

Ô Forêt, souviens-toi de ceux qui sont venus
Un jour d'été fouler tes herbes solitaires
Et contempler, distraits, tes arbres ingénus
Et le pâle océan de tes vertes fougères.

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Text Authorship:

by Rémy de Gourmont (1858 - 1915), "Fougères", appears in Divertissements, in 6. Le vieux coffret, no. 4, Paris, Éd. G. Crès, first published 1912 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by André Caplet (1879 - 1925), "Forêt", 1917, published 1918 [medium voice and piano], from Le vieux coffret, no. 4, Éd. Durand [ sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Forest", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 129

Forest

Language: English after the French (Français)

Oh Forest, you who saw the passing of many lovers
Along your paths, under your heavy foliage,
Confidant of games, of cries, and of oaths,
Witness to whom souls confessed their troubles.

Oh Forest, remember those who came
One day in summer to walk on your moss and grass,
For there they found naïve kisses
The color of leaves, the color of bark, the color of dreams.

Oh Forest, you were right, to let desire
Bloom, [like a] flaming blossom, within your greenery.
The shade grew cooler: a shudder of pleasure
Enchanted the two hearts and all of nature.

Oh Forest, remember those who came
One day to walk alone on your grass
And to contemplate, distracted, your dream-like trees
And the pale ocean of your green ferns.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 by Laura Prichard, (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 Rémy de Gourmont (1858 - 1915), "Fougères", appears in Divertissements, in 6. Le vieux coffret, no. 4, Paris, Éd. G. Crès, first published 1912
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-12-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 128