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J'allais dans la campagne avec le vent d'orage, Sous le pâle matin, sous les nuages bas; Un corbeau ténébreux escortait mon voyage, Et dans les flaques d'eau retentissaient mes pas. La foudre à l'horizon faisait courir sa flamme Et l'Aquilon doublait ses longs gémissements; Mais la tempête était trop faible pour mon âme, Qui couvrait le tonnerre avec ses battements. De la dépouille d'or du frêne et de l'érable L'Automne composait son éclatant butin, Et le corbeau toujours, d'un vol inexorable, M'accompagnait sans rien changer à mon destin.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by Ioannes Papadiamantopoulos (1856 - 1910), as Jean Moréas, no title, appears in Le Septième Livre des Stances, Poèmes inédits de feu Jean Moréas, no. 4, Paris, Éd. posthume, Imprimerie Bernouard, first published 1920 [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 Pierre (Onfroy) de Bréville (1861 - 1949), "J'allais dans la campagne", 1931, published 1934 [high voice and piano], from Quatre Mélodies, no. 4, Éd. “Au Ménestrel” Heugel [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Air romantique", FP. 46, from Airs chantés, no. 1. [ sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "Romantic air", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Linda Godry) , "Romantic song", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Romantische Weise", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Linda Godry) , "Romantische Weise", copyright © 2008, (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: 88
I wandered through the countryside with the thunderstorm's wind, in the pale morning, under low clouds. A gloomy raven escorted me on my journey, and my steps echoed in the puddles. The lightning on the horizon made its flame run and Boreas1 redoubled his persistent howling; yet the tempest was too flaccid for my soul which sounded above the thunder with its pounding. From the ash's and maple's golden garment Autumn gathered its glistening harvest, and evermore the raven, with an inexorable flight, followed me without changing my destiny.
1 Translator's note: Greek God and personification of the north wind as Aquilon stands for the French north wind that attacks as swiftly as an eagle, cf Latin: aquila
Authorship
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2008 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact:
- a text in French (Français) by Ioannes Papadiamantopoulos (1856 - 1910), as Jean Moréas, no title, appears in Le Septième Livre des Stances, Poèmes inédits de feu Jean Moréas, no. 4, Paris, Éd. posthume, Imprimerie Bernouard, first published 1920
This text was added to the website: 2008-02-25
Line count: 12
Word count: 89