Chorus | Winter takes flight; sweet-scented Spring

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by Gérard Labrunie (1808 - 1855), as Gérard de Nerval

Translation © by Grant Hicks

L'hiver s'enfuit, le printemps embaumé

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

L'hiver s'enfuit, le printemps embaumé
Revient suivi des amours et de Flore ;
Aime demain qui n'a jamais aimé,
Qui fut amant demain le soit encore.

L'hiver était le seul maître des temps
Lorsque Vénus sortit du sein de l'onde ;
Son premier souffle enfanta le printemps,
Et le printemps fit éclore le monde.

L'été brûlant a ses grasses moissons,
Le riche automne a ses treilles encloses,
L'hiver frileux son manteau de glaçons ;
Mais le printemps a l'amour et les roses.

L'hiver s'enfuit, le printemps embaumé
Revient suivi des amours et de Flore ;
Aime demain qui n'a jamais aimé,
Qui fut amant demain le soit encore.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Alexandre Dumas, Caligula, Brussels: Th. Lejeune, 1838, Pages 145-146.

Text Authorship:

by Gérard Labrunie (1808 - 1855), as Gérard de Nerval, no title [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), "Chœur", op. 52 no. 2, published [1888], first performed 1888 [ women's chorus and orchestra ], from the incidental music to Caligula, no. 2, Paris, J. Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Chorus", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-11-16
Line count: 16
Word count: 104

Chorus

Language: English after the French (Français)

Winter takes flight; sweet-scented Spring
Returns followed by Cupids and Flora:
Who has never loved, let him love tomorrow;
Who has been in love, let him love again!

Winter was the weather's sole master,
When Venus emerged from the bosom of the wave;
Her first breath gave birth to Spring,
And Spring made the world blossom.

Blazing Summer has its abundant harvests,
Rich Autumn has its enclosed arbors,
Shivering Winter its coat of icicles,
But Spring has love and roses.

Winter takes flight; sweet-scented Spring 
Returns followed by Cupids and Flora:
Who has never loved, let him love tomorrow;
Who has been in love, let him love again!

Note to stanzas 1 and 4: "Cupids" (amours in French, amores in Latin) refers to the artistic fashion of representing the god of love as multiple figures. "Flora" was the Roman goddess of flowers and fertility.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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 Gérard Labrunie (1808 - 1855), as Gérard de Nerval, no title
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-07-24
Line count: 16
Word count: 108