Memory | That day Paris awoke

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Augusta Mary Anne Holmès (1847 - 1903)

Translation © by Garrett Medlock

Souvenir

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Ce jour là Paris s'éveillait
Dans la brume bleue et dorée,
Et sous la blanche arcade ouvrée
Un monde d'oiseaux pépiait,
Et nous parlions de mille choses
Qui ne nous intéressaient pas !
Du temps qu'il faisait, des lilas,
Du soleil, des passants, des roses ...

Pour avoir effleuré ta main
Je tremblais, la lèvre pâlie.
Vous jetiez des miettes d'oublie
Aux jolis moineaux du chemin.
Je gardais un digne maintien !
Vous sembliez la froideur même,
Et tout cela disait : « Je t'aime ! »
Maintenant nous le savons bien !

Text Authorship:

by Augusta Mary Anne Holmès (1847 - 1903)

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Augusta Mary Anne Holmès (1847 - 1903), "Souvenir", 1886, published 1892 [ voice and piano ], from Rêves parisiens, no. 1, Paris : Léon Grus [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , "Memory", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2020-06-29
Line count: 16
Word count: 87

Memory

Language: English after the French (Français)

That day Paris awoke
In blue and gilded mist,
And beneath the white, finely-decorated arcade
A world of birds was chirping,
And we talked of a thousand things
Which did not interest us at all!
Of the weather, of lilies,
Of the sun, of passersby, of roses…

I was trembling to graze 
your hand, [your] pale lip.
You threw wafer crumbs
To the handsome sparrows of the path.
I kept a dignified bearing!
You seemed [to be] coolness itself,
And all this was saying: “I love you!”
Now we know [this] well!

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2021 by Garrett Medlock, (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 Augusta Mary Anne Holmès (1847 - 1903)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2021-01-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 92