Les Présents
Language: French (Français)
Our translations: CAT ENG
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.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• G. Fauré View original text (without footnotes)
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"
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 Bernard-Louis Crocé-Spinelli (1871 - 1932), "Les Présents", published 1898 [ medium voice and piano ], from Six Mélodies, no. 3, Paris, Éditions 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Les Présents", op. 46 no. 1 (1886), published 1888 [ medium voice and piano ], Éditions J. Hamelle [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 Robert Montfort (d. 1941), "Les Présents", published 1912 [ soprano and piano ], from Trois Poèmes, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Cavel Frères [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):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Els presents", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- 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: 67
Presents
Language: English after the French (Français)
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.
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Fauré: "torments"
2 Fauré: "blossom"
Text 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
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2015-01-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 68
