Les Présents
Language: French (Français)
Available translation(s): CAT ENG
Si tu me parles, quelque soir,
Du secret de mon cœur malade,
Je te dirai, pour t'émouvoir,
Une très ancienne ballade.
Si tu me parles de tourment,
D'espérance désabusée,
J'irai te cueillir, seulement,
Des roses pleines de rosée.
Si, pareille à la fleur des morts
Qui se plaît dans l'exil des tombes,
Tu veux partager mes remords...
Je t'apporterai des colombes.
View text with all available footnotes
Confirmed with Comte de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Contes cruels, Paris, Calmann Lévy, 1883, pages 303-304.
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: 61
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,
Of disillusioned hope,
Solely for you, I will gather
Roses filled with dew.
Like flowers for the dead
That thrive in exile among the graves,
You wish to share my remorse...
I will bring you some doves.
View text with all available footnotes
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.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2015-01-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 65