by
Francis Jammes (1868 - 1938)
Elle avait emporté des brassées de lilas
Language: French (Français)
Elle avait emporté des brassées de lilas.
Et, comme elle partait couverte de printemps,
elle était comme un lys qu'un pollen ravissant
aurait poudré. Son front est lisse, un peu trop grand.
Les lilas qu'elle avait, elle les posa là.
Je me suis approché de ces fleurs fatiguées
d'avoir été tenues un moment dans ses bras.
Courbé comme un enfant de chœur par l'encensoir,
sur leur sombre parfum ma bouche s'est posée.
Elle a tendu la main et m'a dit au revoir.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• D. Milhaud About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Francis Jammes, Clairières dans le Ciel, Paris: Société du Mercure de France, 1906, page 32.
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 Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Elle avait emporté", 1999 [ high voice, flute, and piano ], from Tristesses, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974), "Elle avait emporté des brassées de lilas", op. 355 no. 9 (1956), published 1957 [ baritone and piano ], from Tristesses, no. 9, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2014-07-12
Line count: 10
Word count: 82
She had carried off armfuls of lilacs
Language: English after the French (Français)
She had carried off armfuls of lilacs.
And, as she went off covered in Springtime,
she was like a lily that an enchanting pollen
would have dusted. Her brow was smooth, a bit too broad.
The lilacs that she had, she set them down there.
I went up to those flowers tired
of being held for a moment in her arms.
Bent like a choirboy over a censer,
my mouth alit on their somber perfume.
She held out her hand and said goodbye.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Elle avait emporté" = "She had carried off"
"Elle avait emporté des brassées de lilas" = "She had carried off armfuls of lilacs"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 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.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2026-06-23
Line count: 10
Word count: 83
