Dans [Arle]1, où sont les [Aliscamps]2,
Quand l'ombre est rouge sous les roses
        Et clair le temps,

Prends garde à la douceur des choses.
[Quand vient l'heure où tremble,]3 sans cause,
        Ton cœur trop lourd,

Sous les cieux couleur de colombe,
N'écoute point parler d'amour,
        Au bord des tombes.

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Œuvres de Jean-Marc Bertrand, tome IParis: Le Divan, 1923, Pages 182-183.

Note provided by Peter Low: the poet spells the city "Arle" in the first line to ensure an 8-syllable line.

¹ Roland-Manuel: "Arles"
² Roland-Manuel: "Aliscams"
³ Roland-Manuel: "Lorsque tu sens battre"; further changes may exist not shown above.

Text Authorship:

• by Paul Jean Toulet (1867 - 1920), "En Arles", written 1913, appears in Les Contrerimes, in Chansons, in 1. Romances sans musique, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Le Divan, first published 1921 [author's text checked 2 times 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 François Berthet (1873 - 1956), "En Arles", op. 21 no. 1 [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois Contrerimes, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Rouart-Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Beydts (1896 - 1953), "En Arles", 1946, published 1947 [ voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 3, Éd. Durand [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jean-Robert Blanc (b. 1907), "En Arles ", published 1939 [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 2, Bordeaux [sung text not yet checked]
• by Maurice Jaubert (1900 - 1940), "En Arles", 1923-1924, published 1925 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quatre Romances, no. 1, Éd. Jobert [sung text not yet checked]
• by Roland Alexis Manuel Levy (1891 - 1966), as Roland-Manuel, "En Arles", 1922, published 1923 [ voice and piano ], from Trois romances de P. J. Toulet, no. 1, Éd. Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jean-Louis Petit (b. 1937), "En Arles", 1997 [ high voice and piano ], from Livre de poésies, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ludwig-Wolfgang Simoni , "En Arles", 1944 [ mezzo-soprano and strings ], from Quatre Contrerimes de P.J. Toulet, no. 1, Éd. du Chant du Monde [sung text not yet checked]

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

• ENG English (Peter Low) , "In Arles", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-06-12
Line count: 9
Word count: 54

In Arles, at the Alyscamps graveyard,
when the shadows under the roses are red
and the weather is bright,

beware the sweetness of things.
When you feel your too-heavy heart
beating without a reason,

and when the doves are silent,
speak softly, if you're speaking of love
beside the tombs.