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Ramure aux rumeurs amollies, Troncs sonores que l'âge creuse, L'antique forêt douloureuse S'accorde à nos mélancolies. Ô sapins agriffés au gouffre, Nids déserts [des]1 branches brisées, Halliers brûlés, fleurs sans rosées, Vous savez bien comme l'on souffre ! Et lorsque l'homme, passant blême, Pleure dans le bois solitaire, Des plaintes d'ombre et de mystère L'accueillent en pleurant de même. Bonne forêt ! promesse ouverte De l'exil que la vie implore ! Je viens d'un pas [vivace]2 encore Dans ta profondeur encor verte, Mais, d'un fin bouleau de la sente, Une feuille, un peu rousse, frôle Ma tête, et tremble à mon épaule ; C'est que la forêt vieillissante, Sachant l'hiver, où tout avorte, Déjà proche en moi comme en elle, Me fait l'aumône fraternelle De sa première feuille morte.
Confirmed with the newspaper Le Figaro, September 21, 1902.
1 Fauré: "aux"2 Fauré: "alerte"
Authorship:
- by Catulle Mendès (1841 - 1909), "Dans la forêt de Septembre", first published 1902 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Dans la forêt de Septembre", 2011 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Dans la forêt de Septembre", op. 85 no. 1 (1902), published 1902 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "A la forest de setembre", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "In the forest in September", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , François Le Roux [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 129
Foliage of the deadened murmurs, Resonant trunks hollowed by age, The ancient, sorrowful forest Harmonizes with our melacholy thoughts. Oh pines, clinging to the [edges of] abysses, Deserted nests in broken branches, Burnt thickets, flowers without dew, You well know how one suffers! And when man, a pale passerby, Weeps in the solitary woods, Laments of shadow and of mystery Greet him in tears just like his [own]. Good forest! Open promise Of that exile which life seeks, I come with a step [that is] still lively Into your depths [that are] still green. But from a slender birch tree by the path, A leaf, [starting to turn] red, grazes My head and trembles on my shoulder; For the aging forest, Knowing# [that] winter, when everything is stillborn, Is already close for me as for her, Gives me the fraternal alms Of its first fallen leaf!
Line 2-3: flowers without dew: implying dried or wilted petals.
Line 5-1: path: le sentier is French for path or trail.
Line 6-1: Knowing: sachant is the present participle of savoir
Line 6-2: "her" refers to the forest.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2016 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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Catulle Mendès (1841 - 1909), "Dans la forêt de Septembre", first published 1902
This text was added to the website: 2016-02-08
Line count: 24
Word count: 146