J'allais partir ; doña Balbine
Language: French (Français)
J'allais partir ; doña Balbine
Se lève et prend à sa bobine
Un long fil d'or ;
À mon bouton elle le noue,
Et puis me dit, baisant ma joue :
« Restez encor !
« Par l'un des bouts ce fil, trop frêle
Pour retenir un infidèle,
Tient à mon cœur...
[Si]1 vous partez, mon cœur s'arrache :
Un nœud si fort à vous m'attache,
Ô mon vainqueur !
-- « Pourquoi donc prendre à ta bobine
Pour me fixer, doña Balbine,
Un fil doré ?
À [ton lit]2 qu'un cheveu m'enchaîne,
Se brisât-il, sois-en certaine,
Je resterai ! »
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• J. Radoux Pessard sets stanzas 1-3
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Radoux: "Oui ! si"
2 Radoux: "tes pieds"
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):
- by Émile Bourgeois (1849 - 1922), "Le fil d'or" [sung text not yet checked]
- by G. Gautier , "Doña Balbine", subtitle: "Chanson", published 1872 [ voice and piano ], from 2 Chansons à une voix et piano, no. 1, Paris, Vieillot [sung text not yet checked]
- by Théodore Labarre (1805 - 1870), "Le Fil d'or", subtitle: "Boléro", 1844 [ high voice and piano ], from L'Album de Théodore Labarre 1844, no. 2, Paris, Vialon [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Pessard (1843 - 1917), "J'allais partir", 1873, published 1873, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ], from Joyeusetés de bonne compagnie, recueillies et mises en musique, no. 7, Paris, A. Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jules Philipot (1824 - 1897), "Doña Balbine", op. 125, published 1874 [ tenor or mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Poèmes et Chants, Poésies de Théophile Gautier, no. 6, Paris, L. Grus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean-Théodore Radoux (1835 - 1911), "Doña Balbine", subtitle: "Fantaisie-Poésie", published 1866 [ high voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, 1er recueil, no. 8, Paris, Heu [sung text checked 1 time]
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: 2013-03-25
Line count: 18
Word count: 94
I was about to leave. Doña Balbina
Language: English after the French (Français)
I was about to leave. Doña Balbina
rose and took from her bobbin
a long thread of gold.
She knotted it onto my button
and then said, kissing my cheek:
"Stay longer!
"This thread, too fragile to hold
a faithless man, is tied at one end
close to my heart...
If you go, my heart will break,
so strong is the knot that ties you to me
oh my conqueror!"
- "Then why, Doña Balbina,
have you taken a golden thread
from your bobbin to hold me?
Let one strand of hair chain me to your bed,
and if it breaks, be sure of this,
I will stay!"
About the headline (FAQ)
Text 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2022-08-24
Line count: 18
Word count: 107
