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Si tu [me parles]1, quelque soir, [Du]2 secret de mon cœur malade, Je te dirai, pour t'émouvoir, Une très ancienne ballade. Si tu me parles de [tourment]3, D'espérance désabusée, J'irai te cueillir, seulement, Des roses pleines de rosée. Si, pareille à la fleur des morts Qui [se plaît]4 dans l'exil des tombes, Tu veux partager mes remords... Je t'apporterai des colombes.
Confirmed with Comte de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Contes cruels, Paris, Calmann Lévy, 1883, pages 303-304.
1 Fauré: "demandes"2 Fauré: "Le"
3 Fauré: "tourments"
4 Fauré: "fleurit"
Authorship
- by Auguste, Comte de Villiers de L'isle-Adam (1838 - 1889), "Les présents", appears in Contes cruels, in Conte d'Amour, no. 3 [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 Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Les présents", op. 46 no. 1 (1887), published 1888 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Georges Flé , "Les présents", published 1898 [ high voice and piano ], from Poésies mises en musique, no. 6, Édition du Mercure de France [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sebastian Benson Schlesinger (1837 - 1917), "Les présents", op. 74 no. 7 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, A. Quinzard [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Presents", copyright © 2003
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: 61
If some evening you ask The secret of my sick heart, To move you, I will recount A very ancient ballad. If you speak to me of [torment]1, Of disillusioned hope, Solely for you, I will gather Roses filled with dew. Like flowers for the dead That [thrive]2 in exile among the graves, You wish to share my remorse... I will bring you some doves.
1 Fauré: "torments"
2 Fauré: "blossom"
Authorship
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2003 by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
- a text in French (Français) by Auguste, Comte de Villiers de L'isle-Adam (1838 - 1889), "Les présents", appears in Contes cruels, in Conte d'Amour, no. 3
This text was added to the website: 2015-01-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 65