My youth | My youth, always broken

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by Elena Vacarescu (1864 - 1947)

Translation © by Garrett Medlock

Ma jeunesse, toujours brisée

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Ma jeunesse, toujours brisée,
Comme une forêt par le vent,
Garde encore assez de rosée
Pour briller au soleil levant.

Ma jeunesse, toujours remplie
Par l'amour ou le désespoir,
Garde encore assez de folie
Pour aimer leur mortel pouvoir!

Ma jeunesse, aux fleurs finissantes,
Garde encore, malgré les jours,
Ce charme frêle des absentes,
Qui semblent être là, toujours.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Elena Vacarescu (1864 - 1947), "Toujours brisée", written 1914?, appears in La dormeuse éveillée, in 3. Derrière le coteau, no. 113, Paris, Éd. Plon, first published 1914 [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 Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947), "Ma jeunesse", published 1918 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies - 2ème volume, no. 17, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , "My youth", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 59

My youth

Language: English after the French (Français)

My youth, always broken,
Like a forest by the wind,
Saves still enough dew
To shine in the rising sun.

My youth, always filled
[With] love or despair
Saves still enough folly
To love their mortal power!

My youth, with closing flowers,
Saves still, despite the days,
This frail charm of the absent ones
Who seem to be there, always.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 by Garrett Medlock, (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 Elena Vacarescu (1864 - 1947), "Toujours brisée", written 1914?, appears in La dormeuse éveillée, in 3. Derrière le coteau, no. 113, Paris, Éd. Plon, first published 1914
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2019-02-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 60