by
Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
At Day‑Close in November
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE GER GER
The ten hours' light is abating,
And a late bird wings across,
Where the pines, like waltzers waiting,
Give their black heads a toss.
Beech leaves, that yellow the noon-time,
Float past like specks in the eye;
I set every tree in my June time,
And now they obscure the sky.
And the children who ramble through here
Conceive that there never has been
A time when no tall trees grew here,
That none will in time be seen.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Christopher Park) , "À la tombée du jour en novembre", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Novembertages Ende", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "Novembertags Ende", copyright © 2019, (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: 12
Word count: 79
À la tombée du jour en novembre
Language: French (Français)  after the English
Dix heures de lumière s’effacent,
Et un oiseau tardif s'envole,
Là où les pins, comme des valseurs en attente,
Donnent un coup à leurs noires crinières.
Les feuilles de hêtre, qui jaunissent l'heure de midi,
Passent en flottant, des taches sur l’œil ;
J'ai mis chaque arbre à l’heure de juin,
Et maintenant ils obscurcissent le ciel.
Et les enfants qui se promènent par ici
S’imaginent qu'il n'y a jamais eu
Un temps où aucun grand arbre ne poussait ici,
Et que l'on n'en verra aucun un jour.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2022 by Christopher Park, (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:
This text was added to the website: 2022-06-26
Line count: 12
Word count: 87