Adieu Suzon, ma rose blonde,
Qui [fut à moi]1 pendant huit jours ;
Les plus [courts]2 plaisirs de ce monde
Souvent font les meilleurs amours.
Sais-je, au moment où je te quitte,
Où m'entraîne mon astre errant ?
Je m'en vais pourtant, ma petite,
Bien loin, bien vite,
Toujours courant.

Je pars, et sur [ta lèvre ardente
Brûle encor mon]3 dernier baiser.
Entre mes bras, chère imprudente,
Ton beau front vient se reposer.
Sens-tu mon coeur, comme il palpite ?
Le tien, comme il battait gaiement !
Je m'en vais pourtant, ma petite,
Bien loin, bien vite,
Toujours t'aimant.

Paf ! c'est mon cheval qu'on apprête.
Enfant, que ne puis-je en chemin
Emporter ta mauvaise tête,
Qui m'a tout embaumé la main !
Tu souris, petite hypocrite,
Comme la nymphe, en t'enfuyant.
Je m'en vais pourtant, ma petite,
Bien loin, bien vite,
Tout en riant.

Que de tristesse, et que de charmes,
Tendre enfant, dans tes doux adieux !
Tout m'enivre, jusqu'à tes larmes,
Lorsque ton cœur est dans tes yeux,
A vivre ton regard m'invite ;
Il me consolerait mourant.
Je m'en vais pourtant, ma petite,
Bien loin, bien vite,
Tout en pleurant.

Que notre amour, si tu m'oublies,
Suzon, dure encore un moment ;
Comme un bouquet de fleurs pâlies,
Cache-le dans ton sein charmant !
Adieu ; le bonheur reste au gîte,
Le souvenir part avec moi :
Je l'emporterai, ma petite,
Bien loin, bien vite,
Toujours à toi !

E. Chabrier sets stanzas 1, 4-5
V. Massé sets stanzas 1-2, 4-5
L. Rey sets stanzas 1, 4-5
F. Tosti sets stanzas 1-2, 4 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
L. Diémer sets stanzas 1-2, 4-5
M. White sets stanzas 1, 4-5

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

First published in La Revue de Paris, May 1852.

¹ Chabrier, Diémer, Massé: "m'as aimé" and Bizet: "m'a aimée"
² Chabrier: "doux"
³ Diémer : "ma lèvre ardente / Brüle encor ton"

Text Authorship:

• by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Adieux à Suzon", written 1844?, appears in Poésies nouvelles [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 Antoine Banès (1856 - 1924), "Adieu Suzon", published [1881] [ high voice and piano ], from 12 Mélodies, no. 2, Paris, Éd Félix Mackar [sung text not yet checked]
• by Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875), "Adieux à Suzon", 1866, published 1866 [ high voice and piano ], from Feuilles d'Album, no. 2, Paris, Éd. “Au Ménestrel” Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Gaetano Braga (1829 - 1907), "Adieux à Suzon", published [1862] [ high voice and piano ], from Six Mélodies de Gaetano Braga, no. 5, Éd. Flaxland [sung text not yet checked]
• by Emmanuel Chabrier (1841 - 1894), "Adieux à Suzon", 1862, stanzas 1,4-5 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Arthur Coquard (1846 - 1910), "Adieux à Suzon", published <<1881 [ medium voice and piano ], from 12 Mélodies pour chant avec accompagnement de piano, no. 5, Éd. Léon Escudier [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis César Desormes (1840? - 1898), "Adieu, Suzon !", <<1876 [ medium voice, unaccompanied ], Paris, Éditions Ch. Egrot [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Diémer (1843 - 1919), "Les adieux à Suzon", published 1875, stanzas 1-2,4-5 [ voice and piano ], from Vingt Mélodies, no. 8, Paris : Henri Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Édouard Garnier (1821 - 1887), "Adieu, Suzon !" [ medium voice and piano ], from Larmes et Sourires - 24 Morceaux de chant, no. 2, Éditions J. Benacci-Peschier [sung text not yet checked]
• by R. Isnardon , "Adieux à Suzon", <<1910 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Marcel Legay (1851 - 1915), "Adieu Suzon" [ medium voice and piano ], in Album de mélodies choisies parmi les dernières nouveautés, Éd. du Printemps, Paris, no. 18 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Victor Massé (1822 - 1884), "Adieux à Suzon", stanzas 1-2,4-5 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Louis-Étienne-Ernest Rey (1823 - 1909), as Ernest Reyer, "Adieu Suzon", 1854, stanzas 1,4-5 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Paul Rouquet , "Adieu Suzon" [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éditions E. Demets [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jacques Soulacroix (1863 - 1937), "Adieu Suzon !", published 1921 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. F. Durdilly, Ch. Hayet successeurs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916), "Suzon", 1892, stanzas 1-2,4 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916), "Adieux à Suzon", 1880, published 1880 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "Adieu Suzon", published 1888, stanzas 1,4-5 [ voice and piano ], London: Pitt and Hatzfeld [sung text not yet checked]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Qi Feng Wu) , copyright © 2023, (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: 45
Word count: 231

Farewell Suzon, my fair-haired rose,
you were mine for eight days.
The briefest pleasures in this world
often make the best affairs.
Do I know, now as I leave you,
where my wandering star is taking me?
And yet I'm going, my little one,
far away, fast,
always running.
 
I'm leaving and on your ardent lips
my last kiss is still burning.
You bring, imprudent darling,
your lovely head to rest in my two arms. 
Can you feel how my heart is throbbing?
Yours used to beat so gaily!
And yet I'm going, my little one,
far away, fast,
always loving you.
 
Bam! That's my horse being readied.
Dear girl, I wish that on my journey
I could carry your naughty head
which now has so scented my hands!
You're smiling, little hypocrite,
like a nymph, as you flee away.
And yet I'm going, my little one,
far away, fast,
always laughing.
 
There's so much sadness, so many charms,
tender girl, in your sweet farewell!
It all intoxicates me, even your tears,
when your heart is in your eyes.
Your gaze invites me to live,
and will console me when I die.
And yet I'm going, my little one,
far away, fast,
always weeping.
 
May our love, if you forget me,
Suzon, endure a moment more.
Hide it in your charming breast,
like a bunch of faded flowers!
Farewell, happiness stays in the house
and memory leaves with me.
I will carry it away, my little one,
far away, fast,
always yours.