The Lilac | Oh divine flowering of the Lilac

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by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891)

Translation © by Peter Low

Le Lilas

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG ITA

Ô floraison divine du Lilas,
Je te bénis, pour si peu que tu dures !
Nos pauvres coeurs de souffrir étaient las.
Enfin l'oubli guérit nos peines dures
Enivrez-nous, fleurs, horizons, verdures !
Le clair réveil du matin gracieux ;
Charme l'azur irradié des cieux ;
Mai fleurissant cache les blanches tombes,
Tout éclairé de feux délicieux,
Et l'air frémit, blanc des vols de colombes.

Text Authorship:

by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "Le Lilas", appears in Les Cariatides, in Les Caprices - en dizains à la manière de Clément Marot, no. 17, first published 1842 [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 Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "Le Lilas", L. 36/(22) (1882) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) [singable] (Núria Colomer) , "El lilà", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Peter Low) , "The Lilac", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Enrico Magnani) , "I lillà", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Geoffrey Wieting

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 61

The Lilac

Language: English after the French (Français)

Oh divine flowering of the Lilac,
I bless you, for as long as you last!
Our poor hearts were weary of suffering.
Oblivion finally heals our harsh pains.
Get drunk, flowers, horizons, green plants!
The bright awakening of the gracious morning
charms the sun-filled azure of the sky;
and blossoming May conceals the white tombs,
now all lit up with delicious fires,
and the air trembles, white with the flight of doves.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 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:

a text in French (Français) by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "Le Lilas", appears in Les Cariatides, in Les Caprices - en dizains à la manière de Clément Marot, no. 17, first published 1842
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-04-21
Line count: 10
Word count: 72