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Adieu ! je crois qu'en cette vie Je ne te reverrai jamais. Dieu passe, il t'appelle et m'oublie ; En te perdant je sens que je t'aimais. Pas de pleurs, pas de plainte vaine. Je sais respecter l'avenir. Vienne la voile qui t'emmène, En souriant je la verrai partir. Tu t'en vas pleine d'espérance, Avec orgueil tu reviendras ; Mais ceux qui vont souffrir de ton absence, Tu ne les reconnaîtras pas. Adieu ! tu vas faire un beau rêve Et t'enivrer d'un plaisir dangereux ; Sur ton chemin l'étoile qui se lève Longtemps encor éblouira tes yeux. Un jour tu sentiras peut-être Le prix d'un coeur qui nous comprend, Le bien qu'on trouve à le connaître, Et ce qu'on souffre en le perdant.
M. de Rothschild sets stanzas 1, 3, 5
R. Dussaut sets stanzas 1, 3-5
About the headline (FAQ)
First published in Revue des Deux Mondes, January 1, 1843.
Authorship:
- by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Adieu !", written 1840, appears in Premières poésies [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 Max Arham (flourished 1911-1917), "Adieu", published <<1912 [ voice and piano ], from Seize mélodies, no. 47, Paris, Maurice Sénart, B. Roudanez et Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by György Bánffy , "Adieu", op. 16, published 1880 [ voice and piano ], Klausenburg, Demjén [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray (1840 - 1910), "Adieu", published [1868] [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois Mélodies nouvelles, poésies d’Alfred de Musset, no. 3, Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Dussaut (1896 - 1969), "Adieu", op. 2 no. 1 (1916), published 1927, stanzas 1,3-5 [ high voice and piano or orchestra ], Paris, Éd. Henry Lemoine et Cie [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Auguste Guéroult (1836 - 1911), "Adieu", op. 17 no. 4, published [1879] [ medium voice and piano ], from Poèmes lyriques, 2ème livre, no. 4, Paris, Éd. Félix Mackar [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul-Jean-Jacques Lacôme d'Estalenx (1838 - 1920), "Adieu" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques Potharst (d. 1888), "Adieu !" [ high voice and piano ], Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mathilde, Baroness Willy de Rothschild (1832 - 1924), "Je ne te reverrai jamais", stanzas 1,3,5 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Durand, Schoenewerck [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sebastian Benson Schlesinger (1837 - 1917), "Adieu", op. 72 no. 1 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2016-01-04
Line count: 20
Word count: 124
Farewell! I think that in this life I will never see you again. God comes past, calling you and forgetting me. As I lose you I feel that I loved you. No weeping, no vain laments. I know to respect the future. Let the sailing-ship come to take you, I will smilingly see it depart. You leave full of hope, with pride you will return; but you will not recognise those who will suffer from your absence. Farewell! You'll have a beautiful dream and get high on a dangerous pleasure. The star that rises on your path will dazzle your eyes for a long time. One day perhaps you will feel the value of a heart full of understanding, and the wellbeing that comes from recognising it, and how much one suffers from its loss.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 by Peter Low, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Adieu !", written 1840, appears in Premières poésies
This text was added to the website: 2022-05-25
Line count: 20
Word count: 135