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J'ai perdu ma force et ma vie, [Et]1 mes amis et ma gaieté ; J'ai perdu jusqu'à la fierté Qui faisait croire à mon génie. Quand j'ai connu la Vérité, J'ai cru que c'était une amie ; [Quand je l'ai comprise et sentie]2, J'en étais déjà dégoûté. Et pourtant elle est éternelle, Et ceux qui se sont passés d'elle Ici-bas ont tout ignoré. Dieu parle, il faut qu'on lui réponde. Le seul bien qui me reste au monde Est d'avoir quelquefois pleuré.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)First published in La Revue des deux mondes, December 1, 1841, and then in Poésies nouvelles, 1850.
1 omitted by Liszt.2 Liszt: "Quand je l'ai comprise, quand je l'ai sentie"
Text Authorship:
- by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Tristesse", written 1840, appears in Poésies nouvelles, first published 1841 [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 Otto Bouwens van der Boijen (1872 - 1922), "Sonnet", op. 2, published 1905? [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 1, Éd. O. Bouwens van der Boijen & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fania Chapiro (1926 - 1994), "Tristesse", 1949 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Germain Desbonnet (1938 - 2007), "Tristesse", 1978, published 1985 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 1, Éd. du compositeur [sung text not yet checked]
- by Auguste Descarries (1896 - 1958), "Tristesse", 1919, published 2019 [ voice piano ], Hélène Panneton, Association pour la diffusion de la musique d'Auguste Descarries (ADMAD) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charlotte Devéria, née Thomas (1856 - 1885), "Tristesse", <<1877 [ high voice and piano ], from 16 Mélodies pour chant avec accompagnement de piano, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marcel Gennaro (1886 - 1977), "Tristesse", published 1921 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. R. Fornari [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Tristesse", S. 327 (1872), published 1879 [ medium voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Emanuel Moór (1863 - 1931), "Tristesse", op. 91 no. 1 [ voice and piano ], from Deuxième Recueil de Mélodies, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Moret (1871 - 1949), "J'ai perdu ma force et ma vie", published 1904 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean-Louis Petit (b. 1937), "Tristesse", 1997 [ high voice and piano ], from Livre de poésies, no. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Auguste J. Schirlé (1895 - 1971), "Tristesse", op. 21 (Onze mélodies) no. 4, published 1930 [ medium voice and piano ], Montrouge, Éd. M.-A. Schirlé [sung text not yet checked]
- by José Segu (1873 - 1960), "Tristesse", 1925 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by André Wormser (1851 - 1926), "Tristesse", published [1879] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Théodore Michaelis [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alfred von Meißner (1822 - 1885) ; composed by Franz Liszt.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , copyright © 2019, (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: 14
Word count: 80
I have lost my strength and my life, [And] my friends and my joy; I have lost even the arrogance Which made my [intellect] think. When I knew Truth, I believed that she was a friend; [But] when I understood her and felt her, I was already disgusted [by her]. And yet [Truth] is eternal, And those who have gone after her Here below have been ignorant of everything. God speaks, [and] one must respond to him. The only good [thing] which remains to me in the world Is having sometimes wept.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of title(s):
"Sonnet" = "Sonnet"
"Tristesse" = "Sadness"
"J'ai perdu ma force et ma vie" = "I have lost my strength and my life"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Tristesse", written 1840, appears in Poésies nouvelles, first published 1841
This text was added to the website: 2019-05-08
Line count: 14
Word count: 92