Farewell Susan, my strawberry blonde

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by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857)

Translation © by Qi Feng Wu

Adieu Suzon, ma rose blonde

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG ENG

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 !

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• G. Bizet • E. Chabrier • L. Diémer • V. Massé • L. Rey • F. Tosti

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 Jean-Théodore Radoux (1835 - 1911), "Adieux à Suzon" [ baritone and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, 2ème recueil, no. 12, Gand (Belgique), Éd. V. et Ch. Gévaert, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
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]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Fanny Guillaume ; composed by Jean-Théodore Radoux.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

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

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 Susan, my strawberry blonde

Language: English after the French (Français)

Farewell Susan, my strawberry blonde,
Who was mine for eight days;
The shortest pleasures of this world
Often make the best loves.
Do I know, as I leave you,
Where my wandering star is leading me?
Yet I'm going away, my little one,
Very far and very quickly,
Always running.

I leave, and on your passionate lips
Still burns my last kiss.
In my arms, careless darling,
Your beautiful face comes to rest.
Do you feel my heart, how it throbs?
Yours, how merrily it beats!
Yet I'm going away, my little one,
Very far and very quickly,
Still loving you.

Whomp! it's my horse they're saddling.
Child, why can't I, on my journey
Carry with me your naughty head,
Whose scent has has embalmed my hands!
You smile, little hypocrite,
Like a nymph, as you flee.
Yet I'm going away, my little one,
Very far and very quickly,
All the while laughing.

What sadness, and what charms,
Tender child, in your sweet farewells!
Everything intoxicates me, even your tears,
When your heart is in your eyes,
Your glance invites me to live;
It would comfort me while dying.
Yet I'm going away, my little one,
Very far and very quickly,
While crying.

May our love, if you forget me,
Susan, endure a while longer;
Like a bouquet of dried flowers,
Hide it in your charming bosom!
Farewell; happiness remains at home,
The memory [of it] leaves with me:
Yet I'm going away, my little one,
Very far and very quickly,
Always yours!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Qi Feng Wu, (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:

a text in French (Français) by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Adieux à Suzon", written 1844?, appears in Poésies nouvelles
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-07-06
Line count: 45
Word count: 253