by
Jean Richepin (1849 - 1926)
Air retrouvé
Language: French (Français)
Our translations: ENG ITA
Rien n'est fini. Tout recommence.
Rupture toujours ajournée !
C'est comme un vieux bout de romance
Qu'on chanta toute une journée.
Un moment on croit qu'on l'oublie.
On marche sans en avoir cure.
Mais la ritournelle abolie
Couve dans la mémoire obscure.
Un beau jour qu'on prête l'oreille
A des bruits vagues, l'on s'étonne
D'entendre la petite abeille
Qui dans sa ruche encor chantonne.
Et voilà qu'on redit sans trêve
Le bout oublié de romance.
On retourne à son ancien rêve.
Rien n'est fini. Tout recommence,1
View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Les caresses, Nouvelle Édition, Paris, G. Charpentier, [no date], pages 172-173.
1 [sic] for the punctuation.
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 César Antonovich Cui (1835 - 1918), "Air retrouvé", op. 44 no. 10 (1890) [ voice and piano ], from Vingt Poèmes de Jean Richepin, no. 10, Éd. "Au Menestrel" Henri Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Louis Vierne (1870 - 1937), "Air retrouvé", op. 48, Heft 3 (Brumaire) no. 3 (1924), published 1927 [ medium voice and piano ], from Le poème de l'amour, no. 10, Éd. H. Lemoine [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Corinne Orde) , "Rediscovered air", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Francesco Campanella) , "Aria ritrovata", copyright © 2013, (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: 16
Word count: 85
Rediscovered air
Language: English after the French (Français)
Nothing is over. Everything starts afresh.
The final parting is always postponed!
It is like some old snatch of romance
That one sang for a whole day.
One moment you think you have forgotten it;
You walk without a care.
But the banished ritornello
Gestates in the back of the memory.
One fine day, when one lends an ear
To some vague noises, one is surprised
To hear the little bee
Still humming in its hive.
And one finds oneself repeating without respite
That forgotten bit of romance.
One returns to the old dream.
Nothing is over. Everything starts afresh.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2007 by Corinne Orde, (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 Jean Richepin (1849 - 1926), "Air retrouvé", written 1877, appears in Les Caresses, in 3. Brumaire, no. 13, Paris, Éd. M. Dreyfous, first published 1882
This text was added to the website: 2007-11-23
Line count: 16
Word count: 100