The leaves opened on the edge of the branches

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by Paul Bourget (1852 - 1935)

Translation © by Grant A. Lewis

Les feuilles s'ouvraient sur le bord des...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG GER

Les feuilles s'ouvraient sur le bord des branches
    Délicatement.
Les cloches tintaient, légères et franches,
    Dans le ciel clément.

Rythmique et fervent comme une antienne,
    Ce lointain appel
Me remémorait la blancheur chrétienne
    Des fleurs de l'autel.

Ces cloches parlaient d'heureuses années,
    Et, dans le grand bois,
Semblaient reverdir les feuilles fanées,
    Des jours d'autrefois.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Paul Bourget (1852 - 1935), "Romance", appears in Les Aveux, in Dilettantisme [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 Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "Les Cloches", L. 65/(79) no. 1 (1891) [ voice and piano ], from Deux Romances, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jeff Smallman (b. 1965), "Les Cloches", published 2003 [ high voice and piano ], from Tableaux éternels, no. 6, Hensall, Ontario (Canada), Lighthouse Music Publications [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant A. Lewis) , no title, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Die Glocken", copyright © 2006, (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: 12
Word count: 55

The leaves opened on the edge of the...

Language: English after the French (Français)

The leaves opened on the edge of the branches
delicately.
The bells tolled, light and free,
in the clear sky.

Rhythmically and fervently, like an antiphon,
this far-away call
reminded me of the Christian whiteness
of altar flowers.

These bells spoke of happy years,
and in the large forest
they seemed to revive the withered leaves
of days gone by.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Les cloches" = "The bells"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Grant A. Lewis, (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 Paul Bourget (1852 - 1935), "Romance", appears in Les Aveux, in Dilettantisme
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 60