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Dans le mortel soupir de l'automne, qui frôle Au bord du lac les joncs frileux, Passe un murmure éteint : C'est l'eau triste et le saule Qui se parlent entre eux. Le saule : » Je languis, vois! ma verdure tombe Et jonche ton cristal glacé ; Toi qui fus la compagne, aujourd'hui sois la tombe De mon printemps passé.« Il dit. La feuille glisse et va remplire l'eau brune. L'eau répond : » Ô mon pâle amant, Ne laisse pas ainsi tomber une par une Tes feuilles lentement ; » Ce baiser me fait mal, autant, je te l'assure, Que [les coups]1 des avirons lourds ; Le frisson qu'il me donne est comme une blessure Qui s'élargit toujours. » Ce n'est qu'un point d'abord, puis un cercle qui tremble Et qui grandit multiplié ; Et les fleurs de mes bords sentent toutes ensemble Un sanglot à leur pied. » Que ce tressaillement rare et long me tourmente! Pourquoi m'oublier peu à peu ? Secoue en une fois, cruel, sur ton amante Tes baisers d'adieu! «
C. Koechlin sets stanzas 1-4, 6
1 Koechlin: "le coup"
Text Authorship:
- by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Déclin d'amour", written 1866-1869, appears in Les Solitudes, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869 [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 Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950), "Déclin d'amour", op. 13 no. 1 (1894), orchestrated 1894?, stanzas 1-4,6, from Poèmes d'automne, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Morac (1871 - 1958), "Déclin d'amour ", published [1909] [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Rouart, Lerolle & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Matthieu Roy (b. 1980), "Déclin d'amour", published 2020 [ soprano and piano ], from Solitudes, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "Decline of love", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Erkaltende Liebe", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 169
A stifled murmur permeates the mortal sigh of autumn, brushing the chilly reeds on the lakeshore. The sad water and the willow are talking to each other. The willow: I'm languishing! My greenery is falling and littering your icy crystal. You, who were the companion of my vanished spring, are today its grave. He said: The leaf slips and will fill the brown water. The water replied: My pale lover, don't shed your leaves slowly, one by one. This kiss hurts me as much, I assure you, as the blows of heavy oars. It makes me tremble like an ever-spreading wound! How this long, rare trembling torments me! Why forget me little by little? Cruelly shake your farewell kisses down on your lover all at once!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2004 by Faith J. Cormier, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Déclin d'amour", written 1866-1869, appears in Les Solitudes, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869
This text was added to the website: 2004-12-15
Line count: 20
Word count: 126