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by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
Translation by Franz Evers (1871 - 1947)

Ô triste, triste était mon âme
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG ENG GER
Ô triste, triste était mon âme
À cause, à cause d'une femme. 

Je ne me suis pas consolé 
Bien que mon cœur s'en soit allé.

Bien que mon cœur, bien que mon âme 
Eussent fui loin de cette femme. 

Je ne me suis pas consolé,
Bien que mon cœur s'en soit allé. 

Et mon cœur, mon cœur trop sensible 
Dit à mon âme : Est-il possible, 

Est-il possible, -- le fût-il, -- 
Ce fier exil, ce triste exil ? 

Mon âme dit à mon cœur : Sais-je 
Moi-même, que nous veut ce piège 

D'être présents bien qu'exilés, 
Encore que loin en allés ?

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), no title, written 1874, appears in Romances sans paroles, in Ariettes oubliées, no. 7, Sens, Typographie de Maurice L'Hermite, first published 1874 [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 Paul Bades (1873 - 1910), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", [1910] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Raymond Bonheur (1861 - 1939), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme" [ voice and piano ], three versions; unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Charles Bordes (1863 - 1909), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", 1886, published 1902, first performed 1889 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Mergault [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Joseph Canteloube (1879 - 1957), "Tristesse", published 1902 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Jean Charlas , "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", [1946] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Mathieu Crickboom (1871 - 1947), "Ô triste était mon âme", op. 12 (Dix Mélodies pour chant et piano) no. 7 (1908) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by André Dulaurens (1873 - 1932), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Gabriel Dupont (1878 - 1914), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", 1909, published 1909 [ voice and piano ], from Deux mélodies, no. 2, Paris, Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Léo Ferré (1916 - 1993), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", 1965 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Antonio Lima Fragoso (1897 - 1918), "Triste était mon âme", 1917, published 1972 [ medium voice and piano ], from Cançoes do sol poente - Poèmes Saturniens, no. 5, Lisbonne, Éd. Valentim de Carvalho  [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Paul Gaby , "Ariette oubliée", published [1914] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Roudanez [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Eduardo García Mansilla (1871 - 1930), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", published 1904 [ voice and piano ], from Chansons pour chant et piano, no. 5, Paris, Choudens [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Albert Heurtaux , "Ô, triste était mon âme", published 1932 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Sénart [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Gabriel Laurent , "Ô triste, triste était mon âme" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Paul Le Flem (1881 - 1984), "Ariette oubliée", 1905 [ high voice and piano ], Édition E. Demets [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Henri-Édouard-Joseph Logé (1854 - 1912), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", published 1884 [ voice and piano ], first published in Figaro, 6 June 1884 ; later published Paris, Ricordi : 1894 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Federico Longás (1893 - 1968), "Ô triste triste était mon âme", published 1919 [ medium voice and piano ], from Once Lieders, no. 8, Barcelona, Joaquin Mora [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Émilienne Machabey-Ganeval (b. 1896), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", published 1933 [ voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Lemoine [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Philippe Mazé (b. 1954), "Romance sans paroles", 2004, published 2005 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Cinq Mélodies sur des textes de Paul Verlaine for Soprano or Tenor and piano, no. 3, United Music Publishers Ltd [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Henri Mendel , "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", [1910] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Julien Naudy , "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", published 1910 [ voice and piano ], from Deux mélodies, no. 1, Paris, H. Mendel ; Vieu et Vieu [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Émile Nérini (1882 - 1961), "Triste était mon âme", 1923, published 1929 [ voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, no. 12, Paris, Gilles [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Jacques Pillois (1877 - 1935), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", published 1909 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Mathot [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Henri Poirier , "Triste était mon âme", [1946] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Adolfo Salazar (1890 - 1958), "Ariette", 1916, published 1920 [ voice and piano ], from Trois chansons de Paul Verlaine, no. 2, London, J. & W. Chester [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Pierre Salet (1875 - 1936), "Deuxième romance sans paroles", published 1904 [ voice and piano ], from Deux Romances sans paroles, no. 2, Paris, Prioré [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Florent Schmitt (1870 - 1958), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", op. 55 no. 2 (1892-5), published 1912 [ voice and piano ], from Deux Chansons, no. 2, Paris, S. Chapelier [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Mark Simpson (b. 1988), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", first performed 2019 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Jósef-Zygmunt Szulc (1875 - 1956), "Tristesse", published 1908 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Bourveux [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Maurice Touchard (1879 - 1956), "Ô triste", 1909, published [1910] [ medium voice and piano ], from 3 Lieder, no. 2, Paris, Éd. G. Ducrotois [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Louis Vierne (1870 - 1937), "Ô triste, triste était mon âme", op. 18 no. 2 (1897?), published 1902 [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Durand [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Franz Evers (1871 - 1947) , "Zwiespalt" ; composed by Franz Dannehl.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in Serbian (Српски), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Anton Lajovic.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

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

  • ENG English (Laura L. Nagle) , "Oh, sad, sad was my heart", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Pierre Mathé) , "O traurig, traurig war meine Seele", copyright © 2012, (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: 97

Zwiespalt
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the French (Français) 
Meine Seele ist traurig, ich kann sie nicht stillen, 
ist traurig um eines Weibes Willen. 

Was alles ich that, kein Trost verfing, 
obwohl mein Herz längst von ihr ging — 

obwohl meine Seele und all mein Verlangen 
von dieser Frau weit fort gegangen — 

Was alles ich that, kein Trost verfing, 
obwohl mein Herz längst von ihr ging. 

Und mein Herz mit seinem empfindsamen Beben 
fragt meine Seele: Sag! kann es das geben? 

Kann solche Trennung denn wirklich sein, 
so trotzig und doch so traurig sein? 

Und drauf die Seele zu meinem Herzen: 
Weiss ich selbst denn, wozu diese heftigen Schmerzen, 

so nah sich zu fühlen und doch getrennt,
von einander gerissen, wo das Herz doch so brennt? 

Confirmed with Gedichte von Paul Verlaine. Eine Anthologie der besten Übertragungen, herausgegeben von Stefan Zweig, Berlin and Leipzig : Schuster & Loeffler, 1902, page 62.


Text Authorship:

  • by Franz Evers (1871 - 1947), "Zwiespalt" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), no title, written 1874, appears in Romances sans paroles, in Ariettes oubliées, no. 7, Sens, Typographie de Maurice L'Hermite, first published 1874
    • Go to the text page.

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

  • by Franz Dannehl (1870 - 1947), "Zwiespalt", op. 44 no. 4, published 1906 [ voice and piano ], from Im Zeichen Saturns : Fünf Gesänge und Gedichten von Paul Verlaine, no. 4, Tempelhof, Eisoldt & Rohkrämer [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2021-03-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 118

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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