by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
Translation by Bergen Weeks Applegate (b. 1865)
Comme un vol criard d'oiseaux en émoi
Language: French (Français)
Available translation(s): HUN
Comme un vol criard d'oiseaux en émoi, Tous mes souvenirs s'abattent sur moi, S'abattent parmi le feuillage jaune De mon cœur mirant son tronc plié d'aune Au tain violet de l'eau des Regrets Qui mélancoliquement coule auprès, S'abattent, et puis la rumeur mauvaise Qu'une brise moite en montant apaise, S'éteint par degrés dans l'arbre, si bien Qu'au bout d'un instant on n'entend plus rien, Plus rien que la voix célébrant l'Absente, Plus rien que la voix — ô si languissante! — De l'oiseau qui fut mon Premier Amour, Et qui chante encor comme au premier jour ; Et dans la splendeur triste d'une lune Se levant blafarde et solennelle, une Nuit mélancolique et lourde d'été, Pleine de silence et d'obscurité, Berce sur l'azur qu'un vent doux effleure L'arbre qui frissonne et l'oiseau qui pleure.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Poëmes saturniens, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1866, in Paysages tristes, pages 61-62.
Text Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Le Rossignol", appears in Poèmes saturniens, in 3. Paysages tristes, no. 7, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866 [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 Robert Bergmann (1907 - 1972), "Le rossignol", 1934, published 1935 [ voice and orchestra or piano ], from Chants lunaires, no. 1, Nice, Editions musicales Delrieu Frères [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Alexandrovitch de Hartmann (1885 - 1956), "Le rossignol", op. 69 no. 7, published 1941 [ voice and piano ], from Paysages tristes, no. 7, Paris, Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emmanuel Hieaux (b. 1958), "Rossignol", 2014 [ soprano and piano ], from Quatre impressions rehaussées de deuil, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Martin Tornov Loeffler (1861 - 1935), "Le rossignol" [ voice, viola, and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Lucien Mawet (1875 - 1947), "Le Rossignol", op. 29 (1902) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Philip Wilby (b. 1949), "Le rossignol", copyright © 1988, first performed 1983 [ medium voice and piano ], from Ten songs of Paul Verlaine for medium voice and piano, Cycle II : Paysages Tristes, no. 5, Chester Music [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Georg von der Vring (1889 - 1968) [an adaptation] ; composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Bergen Weeks Applegate) , "The nightingale", appears in Poems Saturnine, in 3. Somber Landscapes, no. 7, Chicago, Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The Alderbrink Press, first published 1916
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , "A fülemüle", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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: 20
Word count: 133
The nightingale
Language: English after the French (Français)
Like frightened birds loud calling in their flight, My memories beat upon me with their might. Beat on the yellow foliage of my heart, That, like a lonely alder grown apart, Mirrors its trunk and blighted branches wet In the dull violet waters of Regret That slow and ever mournfully flow near. And then the troubled sound made by a drear Moist breeze that mounts then slowly dies — so well That in the end I hear from out the dell Only the low clear voice celebrating The absent Loved One — O so languishing! Of that sweet bird, my first Love, whose warm lay Comes back again as in the first glad day; And in the splendor sad a glow where soon Rises all pale and solemnly the moon; A melancholy twilight full of summer, Of silence and obscurity — no murmur Rocked on the azure that the sweet wind sweeps — Only the tree that trembles — the bird that weeps.
Confirmed with Bergen Applegate, Paul Verlaine: His Absinthe-Tinted Song, Chicago, Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The Alderbrink Press, 1916, page 59.
Text Authorship:
- by Bergen Weeks Applegate (b. 1865), "The nightingale", appears in Poems Saturnine, in 3. Somber Landscapes, no. 7, Chicago, Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The Alderbrink Press, first published 1916 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Le Rossignol", appears in Poèmes saturniens, in 3. Paysages tristes, no. 7, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-08-15
Line count: 20
Word count: 163