Somber pleasures | It would doubtless be nobler and more manly

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by Jean Richepin (1849 - 1926)

Translation © by Corinne Orde

Sombres plaisirs

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG ITA

Il serait plus viril et plus noble sans doute
De croiser sur son coeur ses bras las et meurtris,
Et de ne point pousser de lamentables cris
Comme un enfant perdu la nuit sur la grand' route.

Il faudrait, ainsi qu'un cadavre qui dégoûte,
Enfouir son amour, en brûler les débris,
Et chanter au besoin, et crier qu'on est gris,

Et boire en souriant ses larmes goutte à goutte.
Mais on est solagé par les pleurs, les sanglots,
La rage folle. Ainsi vos mères, matelots,
Quand vous êtes noyès par la houle inhumaine,

Arrachent des galets au bord du gouffre amer,
Et, les jetant aux flots avec des cris de haine,
Apaisent leur douleur en outrageant la mer.

Text Authorship:

by Jean Richepin (1849 - 1926), "Sombres plaisirs", appears in Les Caresses, in 4. Nivôse, no. 22, Paris, Éd. M. Dreyfous, first published 1882 [author's text not yet checked 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 Louis Vierne (1870 - 1937), "Sombres plaisirs", op. 48, Heft 4 (Nivôse) no. 4 (1924), published 1927 [high voice and piano], from Le poème de l'amour, no. 15, Éd. Henry Lemoine [
text verified 1 time
]

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

ENG English (Corinne Orde) , title 1: "Somber pleasures", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Francesco Campanella) , title 1: "Oscuri piaceri", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Corinne Orde

This text was added to the website: 2007-11-23
Line count: 14
Word count: 118

Somber pleasures

Language: English after the French (Français)

It would doubtless be nobler and more manly
To fold one's tired and bruised arms across one's heart
And not to let out pitiful cries
Like a child, lost in the night on the highway.

One should, as with a repulsive cadaver,
Bury one's love, and burn its remains,
And sing if need be, and yell out that one is tipsy,

And, with a smile, drink one's tears drop by drop.
But one finds relief in the tears and the weeping,
And the mad rage. In the same way - sailors - your mothers,
When you are drowned by the inhuman swell,

Tear up pebbles at the edge of the bitter whirlpool,
And, throwing them to the waves with cries of hatred,
Appease their suffering by outraging the sea.

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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Jean Richepin (1849 - 1926), "Sombres plaisirs", appears in Les Caresses, in 4. Nivôse, no. 22, Paris, Éd. M. Dreyfous, first published 1882
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2007-11-23
Line count: 14
Word count: 127